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One Planet Wales

Our One Planet Wales campaign is a challenge for the Welsh Assembly Government, business and industry and also to the people of Wales to lead happy, healthy, prosperous lives within their fair share of the Earth's natural resources.

WWF Cymru commissoned a report  to calculate Wales' ecological footprint. The 'One Planet Wales' report discovered that if everyone in the world consumed natural resources and generated carbon dioxide at the rate we do in Wales, we would need three planets to support us. It concludes that we must cut Wales' footprint by 75% by 2050 in order to live within our fair share of the planet's resources.

It warns that if current trends and existing polices are followed Wales' footprint will increase by 30% mainly due to growth in air travel and the food and drink sector.

Morgan Parry, Head of WWF Cymru said: "WWF Cymru believes that a sustainable Wales must be a One Planet Wales. If adopted by Government and business, this report would make a valuable contribution to securing Wales as a global leader in sustainable development as well as providing a high quality of life for its citizens."

"It leaves little doubt about the need to take action now, and the many challenges and opportunities ahead for change. One thing is clear from the report: it will take collective action to achieve the changes that are necessary to deliver a One Planet Wales, collective action by the Welsh Assembly Government, local authorities, businesses, communities and individuals. We all have an essential role to play."

The report identifies key ways of delivering a One Planet Wales through reducing the footprint of eight key sectors including food, buildings, transport, products, services, energy, resources and our lifestyles.

Each section focuses on recommendations for the short, medium to longer term – starting now up until 2050 these include: Basic conditions for a One Planet Wales:

  • Transform Wales' economy towards a One Planet Economy; the UK government has accepted the need to develop a One Planet Economy as outlined in its sustainable development strategy
  • Establish procurement policy that demands high standards of resource efficiency and continuous improvement, leading the way for the rest of the public service and generating new markets for low-impact infrastructures
  • Set targets for consumer behaviour change in government communications campaigns which promote sustainable consumption
  • Recognise the scale of resource efficiency improvements required by the business sector and reward businesses that identify business opportunities that contributes to reducing their own footprint and the market sector


Practical policy recommendations
One Planet Buildings: A future of low-carbon sustainable buildings, built through partnerships with residents, lenders, landlords and utilities to effectively transform the energy efficiency of existing stock. For example through raising the energy efficiency of Wales' housing stock would lead to a potential reduction in the housing footprint of 30%
One Planet Food: Move to a low-impact supply chain through an agricultural-environmental agenda on the producer side, and a healthy diet agenda on the consumer side. For example by setting standards for sustainable healthy food in the public sector such as schools and hospitals and increase conversion of agricultural land to organic production – would lead to a potential reduction in the food footprint of 30%
One Planet Transport: a future of low-impact, high quality public transport with a car fleet which has raised its efficiency by several degrees. For example by developing community green travel plans could lead to a potential reduction in transport footprint of 30%

Report author, Joe Ravetz, from the Centre for Urban and Regional Ecology, University of Manchester, said:

"This report demonstrates that it is achievable for Wales to move towards a One Planet Wales country. To achieve this, Wales must organise an economy which thrives on one planet, rather than squandering the current resources of three planets."

"To reach this goal, there has to be a new system of production and consumption, where business success depends on resource efficiency and consumer value depends on quality rather than quantity."