Climate: Wales' coal mining past means it has a 'duty'

By Steffan Messenger
The Environment Correspondent of the British Broadcasting Corporation in Wales.

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In the past decade, Carbon Link has planted over four million trees.

The leader of a group that fights climate change claims that Wales has a particular responsibility to help fight climate change because of its coal mining past.

The country invented a model of industrial development based on exploiting fossil fuels, according to the director of Carbon Link.

The Welsh government funds tree-planting in Africa.

It has planted four million trees in the Boré community.

Over the course of the past decade, the project has grown from getting 1,000 cashews in the ground to the goal of planting one million trees this year.

Some of the varieties will provide food and timber to the community and others will create wildlife habitats.

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Carbon Links wants to plant more trees.

The funding comes from the Welsh government, the charity Size of Wales and takings from two innovative climate change charity shops.

Mr Hartwell explained in a video call from the Boré Community Forest Project that it's all about helping the local people protect their forest and plant new trees to suck down carbon from the atmosphere and improve the climate for everyone.

He said that poorer nations were being hit the hardest by the impacts of rising temperatures and extreme weather because they had contributed the least to the carbon emissions problem.

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Wales had invented a model of industrial development based on exploiting fossil fuels, according to Ru Hartwell.

He said that Wales has a long history of releasing carbon.

The south Wales coalfield has been one of the longest legacies of any country in the world.

The model of industrial development based on exploitation of fossil fuels was invented in south Wales and has gone on to be copied by every other country in the world.

We have a particular responsibility to take back some of the ancient, historical carbon that we were the first industrialised nation.

The project has led to the establishment of the largest tree nursery in the country, working with more than 3000 farmers and 200 schools.

The new woodland being created by the club to make up for some of the carbon released in printing the matchday programme is located here.

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Since the project started, Anna Douglas has been volunteering.

Anna Douglas, Mr Hartwell's daughter, said that the people here have small carbon footprints, unlike the people in the West who drive or fly all the time.

Climate change is driving crop failures, she said.

Over the past decade, Welsh funding has led to the planting of 15 million trees in Uganda, with the Welsh government aiming to reach 25 million by 2025.

Climate change and excessive logging have led to flooding and deaths in the Mbale region.

A tree is planted for every child born or adopted in Wales.

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The trees help the local community by providing food and timber.

Wales lags behind the rest of the UK in terms of tree-planting targets, despite the fact that ministers have faced questions over the failure to meet domestic targets.

The deputy climate change minister Lee Waters recently announced plans to plant 86 million trees by the year 2030.