Wales to invest £8.1bn in green infrastructure 

Finance Minister Rebecca Evans has said tackling the climate and nature emergency is the ‘overarching ambition’ of Wales’ new Infrastructure Investment Strategy.

Between now and 2025 £770m will support public transport – with a £585m investment in rail and a £185m investment in bus travel. 

The strategy will also support the creation of a National Forest and improve access to landscapes and outdoor recreation through investment in designated landscapes and the development of the Wales Coast Path and Public Rights of Way network. 

Money will also be spent on protecting Wales from the effects of climate change, with an investment of more than £100m on flood defenses. 

More than 45,000 homes will benefit from additional flood protection measures and more than 17,400 homes around the Welsh coastline will see reduced risk through the Coastal Risk Management Programme.

Rebecca Evans, Minister for Finance and Local Government said: ‘Our budget set the foundations to strengthen public services, tackle the climate and nature emergency, and support a zero-carbon economy. Investment in the right infrastructure, in the right places, will be vital in achieving this.

‘Investment will differ from sector to sector and from programme to programme, but we will look to position all future investments so they play their part in helping Wales reach net zero. All areas of spending will consider environmental outcomes, even those which may have a different primary focus.

‘The overarching ambition of our investment will be to tackle the climate and nature emergency. It will be to ensure we have the infrastructure in place to support the Wales we want to hand on to future generations – a stronger, fairer, greener Wales.’

Lee Waters, Deputy Minister for Climate Change, added: ‘By investing in infrastructure we’ll open up greener forms of transport to more people, providing more choice in how we’re all able to get around. And infrastructure is about more than our built environments; we’re dedicating significant funding to enhance Wales’ natural spaces, including through the National Forest. We want to encourage people’s connection to nature and through it support their wellbeing.

‘This is another step in the right direction, and we know we need to do more in the next ten years than we’ve done in the last thirty if we’re to reach our NetZero target by 2050.’