Lawmakers in the Welsh Assembly have passed new climate change legislation committing the country to cutting carbon emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050.
The Environment (Wales) Bill will become law after being unanimously approved by Welsh Assembly members on Tuesday.
Alongside the introduction of binding carbon reduction commitments, the legislation also requires Natural Resources Wales (NRW), the Welsh body responsible for the natural environment, to put sustainability at the centre of its policy making processes.
NRW will be required to produce a five-yearly report examining how well Wales is looking after its nature, land, water and air in order to inform national policy making. It will also be required to work more closely with other public bodies - including councils - to offer focused climate support in local areas.
Natural Resources Minister Carl Sargeant said the new legislation will help NRW "join up delivery and prioritise key risks and opportunities".
"This is a great day for Wales as the passing of the Environment Bill will ensure that the sustainable management of our natural resources will be a core consideration in all future decision-making," he said in a statement.
He added the statutory climate change change targets will speed up progress in tackling emissions. Since 2011 Wales has had official government targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by three per cent a year, alongside achieving a 40 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, against 1990 levels. But emissions in Wales have only fallen 12 per cent since 1990, compared to 30 per cent in the UK as a whole.
The Bill - which is expected to receive royal assent in the Spring - also provides greater powers for the Welsh Assembly to enhance recycling and waste management throughout the country.
Under the legislation, by next year schools, hospitals and businesses will be forced to separate their waste for recycling, and 5p plastic bag charges will be extended to include supermarket's plastic "bags for life".
Although the legislation was passed unanimously, opposition parties and NGOs said it could have been more ambitious. Welsh Conservatives Shadow Environment Minister Janet Haworth said in a statement the legislation is a "missed opportunity" for Wales. Specifically, she said it fails "to embrace the United Nations' definitions of biodiversity and ecosystems".
Meanwhile, WWF Cymru said the Bill "should have gone further on climate", but acknowledged it as a "step in the right direction".
The new legislation complements the Well-being of Future Generations Bill passed in March 2015, which requires government-run organisations in Wales to consider environmental and social sustainably development in every decision they make.
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