Rwy’n credu y dylem i gyd gwestiynu’r rhesymau pam rydym yn gwneud hyn. Ac os nad ydym yn gwrando ar gyrff sydd â diddordeb, a ddylem wrando ar gyrff nad oes ganddynt ddiddordeb, felly, neu sut rydym i symud ymlaen? Mae’n rhaid i mi ddweud eich bod yn iawn i dynnu sylw at ychydig o archwilio beirniadol fel rhywbeth sydd ei angen mewn unrhyw drafodaeth o’r math hwn—mae’n gweithio’r ddwy ffordd, mewn gwirionedd, yn ogystal â bod yn wrthrychol ac yn ddiduedd hefyd. Felly, wyddoch chi, mae’n iawn i farn pawb gael ei chlywed, ond mae’n rhaid i mi ddweud bod y mwyafrif llethol—gwirioneddol lethol—o dystiolaeth yno, ac na allwch wadu bod newid hinsawdd yn realiti, beth bynnag a ddywedai’r ‘Washington Post’ yn 1922, gyda phob parch. Ac mae’n rhywbeth na allwn ddianc rhagddo, ac mae’n rhywbeth, yn sicr, na fyddwn yn claddu ein pennau yn y tywod yn ei gylch.

And what I want to do in my contribution this afternoon is remind Members, as I have done previously in this Chamber, of the work done by the Environment and Sustainability Committee in the previous Assembly. One of the final acts of the committee, indeed, was to publish its report on the future of smarter energy for Wales. There were all sorts of recommendations, of course, contained within that report, and one is concerned on occasion that some of these reports do become lost between Assemblies. And I don’t apologise for the fact that I am reminding Members of the existence of that report, and, certainly, the Cabinet Secretary too, because one does feel that a number of those recommendations have perhaps been lost, when I believe they have an important contribution to make, particularly, perhaps, in terms of the main focus of my contribution, from a saving energy perspective, and ensuring that we reduce the demand for energy, and that we help people to use energy in a more efficient way. For example, Germany, as we know, is committed by 2050 to ensure that 80 per cent of its energy comes from renewable sources, but it’s also committed to cutting its energy use in buildings by 80 per cent too. The one goes hand in hand with the other, of course, and that in turn, of course, according to the German plans, will create millions of jobs and contribute constructively to its gross domestic product too.

Now, we know that homes in the UK spend some 80 per cent of their energy costs on heating rooms and water in their homes. So, as we know, we need to ensure that homes are as efficient as possible in terms of energy usage, in terms of retaining heat and, therefore, reducing costs, as well as the other benefits that ensue from that. I have mentioned, of course, dozens of times the energy performance of buildings directive from the European Union—this aim that we currently still have, for the time being at least, of getting close to zero in terms of emissions by the end of 2020. And the decision by the Welsh Government in the previous Assembly to consult on achieving energy performance standards that are 25 per cent or 40 per cent more effective than the 2010 standards, and then settle for 8 per cent, was very disappointing.

Although, of course, there is going to be a change in terms of the European commitments, I suspect, that we will be duty-bound to meet, I would be hopeful that reaching that aim would be the beginning of the journey, rather than the end of that journey. Because the current system of continuing to construct homes that aren’t sufficiently energy efficient does lock that inefficiency in for the lifespan of those homes, which means that we can’t achieve the level of energy efficiency that we’d all want to see whilst those homes remain in existence, without, of course, going into the additional costs of retrofitting those homes. Therefore, it is a crucially important part of that work, and the retrofitting as well, as we do have so many homes that will still be here in 50 years’ time. Arbed and Nest make a contribution, as we’ve heard, but it’s a very small contribution, of course, despite its importance, in the context of the scale of the challenge facing us. Plaid Cymru, of course, wanted to invest billions of pounds over the next two decades to meet that challenge, through the national infrastructure commission for Wales, and I do feel that we have to raise our game in this particular area.

We heard reference to the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 earlier. Well, of course, we are talking here not only about environmental benefits in terms of reducing carbon emissions, but also economic benefits in terms of job creation and social benefits in terms of tackling energy poverty. So, if we are serious about achieving sustainable development in Wales, and if we are serious about delivering the commitments that we want to meet in terms of the Paris agreement, then we have to start at our feet and ensure that we reduce the use of energy in Wales, and do so mainly through the housing stock.