THE leader of the Wales Green Party has written an open letter to the First Minister calling on the Welsh Assembly to stop plans for fracking.

Pippa Bartolotti revealed she had written to Carwyn Jones appealing to the government to stop the process of fracking “in its tracks”.

She said the latest report from the International Panel on Climate Change warned burning more fossil fuels will increase the pace of climate change.

Ms Bartolotti, from Newport, said: “Fracking sites are planned all over Wales, and the Welsh Government has full jurisdiction over the planning process, we therefore ask that you use your authority to stop the process of fracking in its tracks.

“Our renewables resource is one of the greatest in the world. Renewables will provide the strong economic base for Wales which oil did for Scotland."

But a Welsh Government spokesman said the UK Government also shares responsibility in decision making over oil and gas.

He said: “It is not correct to say that the Welsh Government has full jurisdiction over the consenting process in respect of oil and gas development. Oil and gas licensing is a matter for the UK Government.

“We are committed to a transition to a low carbon energy system in a way that delivers benefits to the people of Wales. In the transition, gas will play an important role as it is flexible, reliable and with lower emissions than other fossil fuels.

“Whether gas that might be present in Wales can be safely extracted and play a role in a future energy mix requires more research."

Yesterday [Nov 6] Friends of the Earth Cymru revealed the First Minister had sent a letter in response to petitions gathered by the charity and Frack Free Wales which caused "huge concern that the Welsh Government is failing to link the issues of fracking and climate change".

He said: "The First Minister’s failure to even mention climate change in a three-page letter about fracking is of huge concern."