Welsh coastlines are said to be threatened by global warming

Where parties stand on such issues as climate change, recycling, and carbon emissions could play a big role in the Welsh assembly election on 3 May.

The Wales 60 - one for every Assembly Member - is a group of voters put together by the BBC to represent a balanced range of opinions.

We asked some of them for their views on environmental concerns.

Lisa Higgins

The assembly government has implemented steps to make our country greener, including a scheme to promote household recycling.

In spite of this, these efforts have come short of the mark.

At grassroots level I feel there is lack of information and also lack of awareness to what can and cannot be reused, and there are very few recycling collections.

This inevitably makes people want to throw out vital renewable resources due to lack of access to facilities. This must be addressed.

There seems to be no real sustainable policy for renewable energy sources. It is a major oversight that there are sources that have not been tapped into.

Vast amounts of public money are spent extolling the virtues of recycling, but there are pitifully few recycling centres available Louise Hughes

I think it would be best not only to have a binding code of conduct to ensure targets are met, but grants to help people source their own energy, such as solar cell technology.

I would also like the assembly to do more to encourage businesses to use less waste in their daily operations.

We all must do our bit, whether it be turning off power points when we leave the house or cutting back on car journeys.

Wales is a beautiful nation and must be protected.

Louise Hughes

I'm sceptical about the whole global warming issue.

It's such an emotive subject (we've all seen the pictures of forlorn-looking polar bears on shrinking ice floes). Some scientists insist we're all doomed and others claim that this is just the earth doing what it's always done.

But I do feel that we can't be battering our poor planet indefinitely. For me, though, there are important issues that need addressing NOW in Wales.

Vast amounts of public money are spent extolling the virtues of recycling, but there are pitifully few recycling centres available (and I don't mean just bottle or paper banks).

This lack of proper disposal methods has led to a rash of fly-tipping spoiling our beautiful countryside. Litter in general is rampant.

Driving to Aberystwyth, I was appalled at the litter-strewn everywhere. Lay-bys knee-deep in rubbish with warning signs threatening �1,000 fines for littering - but no bins!

Where's the sense in that? Litter is like an infectious disease that's spreading rapidly. Why do people do it?

Is enough help on offer to enable people to recycle in Wales?

I get incensed when I see people throwing rubbish out of their cars, especially plastic bottles. Plastic is not bio-degradable, and not digestible by any living organism on the planet.

Plastic is the toxic scourge of the modern age and governments should be putting immense pressure on manufacturers to change their packaging policies. Everything seems to be plasticised these days - at least when it was paper it had a chance of bio-degrading.

And am I the only person who loathes chewing gum? It has no nutritious value whatsoever and is revolting. Ban it before our streets, town and cities are swamped in a sticky, nasty mess.

We should be educating children about looking after the environment and that starts with: DON'T DROP LITTER. There are many other topics I feel strongly about but that is my bete noire.

Steve Taylor

As an environmental science graduate, my studies have made me realise how our actions as humans can have such harmful impacts on our planet.

Those who doubt global warming is a threat should look at the facts. Perhaps the greatest injustice is that those who are polluting this planet the most will feel the least impacts.

I believe Environmental Management Systems (EMS) should be compulsory for all businesses, no matter how small they are.

I also think a good idea would be to offer grants to the smallest, who would then be able to afford to review their environmental impacts and find ways of managing them (essentially the whole point of an EMS).

This is the sort of process that would encourage supermarkets to reduce their packaging (which is more environmentally friendly than over-packaging food and then us recycling it).

The parties should be encouraging us to be more green in our daily lives.

In particular, much more money needs to be spent on our rail network - especially if they want us to use it instead of our cars.

We don't need big speeches every year from the party leaders on climate change; we need less talk and more action."