Wales is a country as rich in its history as in its natural resources. And while we’ve not always reaped the benefits of our natural resources – now is the time for us to learn the lessons of history.
Welsh coal was renowned the world over for its quality. It fired the industrial revolution. The value of Welsh coal led to the signing of the world’s first £1million cheque in Cardiff Bay.
But the wealth of the black gold under our feet was never paid back to benefit Wales. It made for some very rich colliery owners, but only at the expense of generations of coal miners, many of whom are still paying the price for that today.
Playing our part in tackling the Climate Emergency
We find ourself in a climate emergency, and Wales along with every country in the world, has set targets to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels.
Just as Wales’s natural resources were once the epicentre of firing the industrial revolution, our natural resources are once again at the fore in the green revolution that will tackle the climate emergency, but this time, they’re renewable.
We are one of the best placed countries in terms of renewable resource potential. We are a country with three quarters of our border facing the sea, with hills and mountain ranges battered by wind.
We have golden opportunity to develop wind and tidal renewable energy.
An opportunity to also tackle the cost of living crisis
Wales is already a net exporter of electricity – we make more electricity than we use. We are also in the midst of a cost of living crisis, with an estimated 144,504 households (11%) at risk of being in fuel poverty in Wales.
Yet in Wales we pay more for our electricity than most of the rest of the UK. Opportunities for us to transfer profit from selling our renewable energy back into the hands of those who need the most support are passing us by. This is simply not right.
We can and should be a major player in the renewable revolution. But this time, we need to do this on our own terms, with the wealth generated by our natural resources staying in Wales, benefiting all that live in Wales.
Devolving the Crown Estate – a solution that benefits Wales
One of a few positive measures which we should take to address climate change and fully realise Wales’s energy potential includes the devolution of the Crown Estate.
The Crown Estate functions as a publicly owned property business with significant assets in Wales and far-reaching control of natural assets, including over our seabed. Profits from the Crown Estate in Wales currently are split between the UK Government and the Royal Family.
My colleague, Liz Saville Roberts MP, has tabled a motion in Westminster which outlines that devolving the Crown Estate would not only boost the Welsh economy, but provide us with better control over the resources that will be crucial for us to tackle and fight back against the climate emergency.
If control of the Crown Estate were devolved to Wales, as it was to the Scottish Government in 2017, it would allow us to steer the development of our large offshore wind energy, tidal energy and hydrogen production. Lucrative revenues from Crown Estate leases would flow to the Welsh Treasury.
Importantly, this would give the Welsh Government the funding to ensure that people in Wales feel the financial benefit.
As it stands, Westminster is not budging. Wales is on the verge of missing out on the green economic rents of its own natural resources. Scotland, on the other hand, is currently benefitting from a green goldrush.
Some estimates also show that the Westminster could potentially raise up to nine billion pounds over the next decade alone from the auctioning of Welsh seabed plots to foreign owned windfarm developers.
As my colleague Ben Lake MP recently put it – If it’s ok for Scotland, why not for Wales?
It’s so important that we learn the lessons of our history and make sure that Wales is not stripped of our renewable assets once again.
Establishing a Welsh Crown Estate would give Wales more financial and long-term means to invest in our net-zero future and help households at a time of fuel poverty.
The natural, renewable resources of Wales should be governed by Wales, for the people of Wales. It’s as simple as that.
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