Climate and agriculture regulations pass final Senedd hurdle

Regulations that cement Wales’s climate commitment and enable the roll-out of the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) passed their final hurdle in the Senedd on Tuesday (2 December).

Members voted in favour of the landmark regulations, including the Climate Change (Carbon Budget) (Wales) Regulations 2025 and the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) (Tapering, Payment Entitlements, and Closure) (Wales) Regulations 2025.

The deputy first minister with responsibility for climate change and rural affairs, Huw Irranca-Davies, described the moment as “historic for the Welsh environment”.

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He said: “We are doubling down on climate action and forging a new partnership with Welsh farmers that will secure their businesses and our environment for generations to come.”

Stability and support

Wales has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by more than a third since 1990.

The new climate regulations establish Wales’ fourth carbon budget at a 73% emissions reduction, requiring that the third carbon budget be achieved entirely through domestic efforts.

After seven years of development, the agriculture regulations are the final step in enabling the Welsh government to launch the SFS in January.

This, the Welsh government says, offers the stability and support farmers need to become more resilient, productive, and sustainable.

Mr Irranca-Davies added that the impacts of climate change are a real and present danger.

Recent floods in Monmouth and across Wales were a reminder “that inaction means higher energy bills, more extreme weather, and an uncertain future for our children”.

“These regulations deliver the opposite: cheaper bills, cleaner air, new green jobs, and a safer, more secure Wales,” he said, adding that the incoming SFS supports sustainable food production and responds to the climate and nature emergencies.

Opposition response

Plaid Cymru’s rural affairs spokesman, Llyr Gruffydd MS, who abstained from the vote, said: “The farming unions have been clear in their advice to MSs that the statutory instruments on the Sustainable Farming Scheme need to pass today.”

He added that, despite them not being what Plaid Cymru or the unions prefer, and having called for a more prolonged and gradual tapering from BPS to the SFS, “we accept that the uncertainty and potential chaos of not passing them would be even worse for the industry”.

The Welsh Conservatives, however, opposed the regulations and said the current SFS is not good enough for Welsh agriculture.

They said that accepting UK Climate Change Committee’s Fourth Carbon Budget proposal for a 19% reduction in Welsh livestock numbers by 2033, “is inexcusable”.

NFU Cymru said that, even though there was room for improvement in the scheme – and this was still possible to achieve as it evolved – passing the legislation at least provided some stability, particularly in terms of securing the £230m BPS budget for 2026. 

The union has already shared its priorities for further improvement with Mr Irranca-Davies and all parties in the Senedd.