Michael Lawley, Chairman of Cooke & Arkwright comments: “The treaty commitments do have long term implications for Wales, which has a high proportion of the wind power generation within the UK, both on and offshore, and is also seeing heavy investment in solar farms, biomass plants, and more recently with the proposals for Swansea Tidal Lagoon. Just this week it has been announced that the world’s first grid-connected, submerged tidal energy generator has been installed at Ramsey Sound in Pembrokeshire. Projects such as the tidal lagoon should now become high priorities, and the Paris Agreement should give confidence to investors and government as these schemes offer steady and reliable energy outputs which can make an important contribution towards achieving a low carbon economy.
“As a result of this treaty we expect an increasing focus on Wales for these types of development, with all its natural advantages for renewable energy. We anticipate an active period within the commercial real estate, development land, and especially utilities and energy sectors in which we operate, with increased demand for our services as experts providing professional advice and guidance in these fields in Wales.”