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The wind is not ours; how Wales was left out of its own energy future
The wind is not ours; how Wales was left out of its own energy future The Celtic Sea; power, profit & possibility On 19 June 2025, The Crown Estate announced – in English only – what it calls a “new frontier” in UK offshore wind development, partnering with Norwegian energy giant Equinor and Gwynt Glas…
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Tunnels, trains and (ferry) terminals; infrastructure insights from north Wales
Tunnels, trains and (ferry) terminals; infrastructure insights from north Wales NICW undertakes several study tours a year to understand more about local infrastructure issues. This blog post describes our visit to Conwy and Ynys Môn in July 2025 Several times a year the Commission visits different parts of Wales to understand local issues of infrastructure…
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Diverging currents; the approach to flooding in Wales and England
Diverging currents; the approach to flooding in Wales and England This is a guest post by Dr David Clubb, Chair of NICW. The piece was first published in Business Wales on 27 June. As climate change intensifies, the UK faces an escalating threat from flooding which is among the most costly and disruptive climate-related hazards.…
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Reshaping the Future Generations Act
Reshaping the Future Generations Act Background On 31 March 2025, the Equality and Social Justice Committee of the Senedd agreed to undertake scrutiny of the Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFGA). Our consultation response (below) was submitted to the Committee on 24 June. Reframing the future The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 was…
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Welcoming Elspeth Jones, NICW’s Nature Guardian
Welcoming Elspeth Jones as Nature Guardian Croeso We are delighted to welcome Elspeth Jones to the NICW team as our first Nature Guardian, a role we are launching as part of a six-month pilot programme to explore how NICW can deepen its relationship with nature, land, and place. Background This pilot project has arisen from…
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Inviting Nature into NICW
Inviting Nature into NICW Background In October 2024, the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales (NICW) made a bold recommendation to Welsh Government: nature should have a voice in decisions about flood policy and implementation. This was not just a call for greater environmental awareness; it was an invitation to imagine a future where nature sits…
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Between Targets and Trust: Wales and Net Zero
Between Targets and Trust: Wales and Net Zero Net Zero in Wales Net zero is no longer just a climate policy; it has become a concept that reflects the hopes, tensions, and contradictions of our time. In Wales, the journey toward net zero by 2050 is both a legal requirement and a test of our…
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NICW’s future infrastructure essays
This personal blog post is written by David Clubb as an introduction to a series of essays about future infrastructure. Good ancestors In his book The Good Ancestor, Roman Krznaric describes the question posed by a member of the team that developed a vaccine for polio. Jonas Salk asked: ‘Are we being good ancestors?’ In…
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NICW Response to the Senedd CCEI Committee Report
Llŷr Gruffydd MS,Chair, Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure CommitteeSeneddClimate@senedd.wales 15th May 2024 Dear Llŷr Thank you for your letter of the 15 April 2024 enclosing a copy of the Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee’s report; “Annual report on the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales 2023”. It was a pleasure to meet with yourself and…
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Port Talbot; strategic domestic manufacturing
This is a guest post by Dr Jen Baxter, Deputy Chair of NICW Tata’s closure The news that Tata Steel will close both blast furnaces at its Port Talbot steelworks within the next 18 months and replace them with an electric arc furnace (around 2027) will significantly reduce the UK’s ability to be self-sufficient in…
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Biodiversity in planning policy
Welsh Government recently consulted on draft policy changes to Planning Policy Wales that strengthen the requirement to incorporated nature-positive elements within the policy. Dr Jen Baxter, Deputy Chair of NICW, drafted the Commission’s response to the proposed changes. 25 May 2023 Dear Sir / Madam Targeted policy changes to Planning Policy Wales on Net benefit…
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Our values
The NICW values Values are important to us as individuals, and to organisations. They help us define the things that are important to us. They guide our activities, shape prioritisation of limited personal and institutional resources, and can help people understand why we do the things we do. This iteration of the National Infrastructure Commission…
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Response to TAN 15 consultation
Ein cyf/Our ref: NICW/23/TAN15 TAN 15 Consultation,Planning Policy Branch,Welsh Government,Cathays Park,Cardiff CF10 3NQ E-mail: planconsultations-j@gov.wales 17 April 2023 Dear Sir / Madam Technical Advice Note (TAN)15: Development, flooding and coastal erosion – further amendments consultation Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the latest TAN15 consultation. NICW’s role is to provide advice to the Welsh…
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Reviewing the Roads Review
NICW Roads Review response This document is our response to the publication of the Roads Review (1). We also note the accompanying National Transport Delivery Plan (2). Planning and Finance The National Infrastructure Commission for Wales considers the needs and role of infrastructure in Wales from approximately 2030-2100. The roads considered within the Roads Review…
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Cars and roads in Wales
Introduction This blog post is a precursor to a NICW opinion piece on the Roads Review, and on the Welsh Government’s response to the Roads Review. The Roads Review was undertaken under a very tight remit and timeline. There is an inevitable tradeoff between the terms of reference for the review, and the ability to…