Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. This debate is focused around possibility, about how much potential is embedded in our nation and natural resources, but a potential kept tantalisingly out of our reach. I'll focus my remarks, in opening our debate, on actions we could take to address the climate and nature emergencies and fulfil our energy potential.

Let's consider the Crown Estate. There's a theme that will come up repeatedly in this debate that things are different in Scotland. In that nation, the Crown Estate was devolved to the Scottish Government in 2017. Were we to follow the same path, lucrative revenues from Crown Estate leases would go to the Welsh Treasury instead of Westminster and, indeed, the Queen's coffers. Instead, the Crown Estate's control over our sea bed and large tracts of land means Wales could lose out on a green goldrush that's currently benefiting Scotland. Some estimates show that the UK Government could raise up to £9 billion over the next decade alone from auctioning sea bed plots to windfarm developers—all potential, all money that is passing us by. The Crown Estate's lands generated £8.7 million in revenue last year, and the valuation of the Crown Estate's Welsh marine portfolio has increased from £49.2 million to £549.1 million. This is money that would enable Wales to build and develop our own Welsh renewable energy industry and retain wealth to fund public services rather than selling off our precious assets to the highest foreign bidder. It's outrageous that these resources are locked away from us and benefit others instead, because not only is the Crown Estate preventing local ownership of Welsh land and taking revenue out of Wales, it's also supporting other economies to profit from Welsh assets.

The Crown Estate paid the UK Government £345 million in 2019-20. The estate's net revenue fell by 29.9 per cent in 2020 because of the pandemic, though the monarch did not see a decrease in the sovereign grant, as the grant does not fall when profits decrease, even though it does go up when profits increase. And all the while, the people who are suffering as a result are the people of Wales. It follows, Dirprwy Lywydd, that we should renew calls for the full devolution of energy powers, since we're currently stymied by an inadequate grid infrastructure and a regulatory regime that demands more strategic thinking. We need to control and to benefit from our country's natural resources and have the ability to develop larger projects if we are to deliver on net zero and deliver for our people and our communities. Because even the cost-of-living crisis that's on the horizon will be made worse in Wales by the fact that we lack powers over natural resources. One of the core ironies of the UK new liberal energy market is that it sees state-backed energy companies from across mainland Europe earn revenue using Wales's resources, which, in turn, helps to fund their public services back home. Wales as a proxy place, an entity that benefits others, not itself.

And on this same issue, I'll close by saying a word about tree planting. Wales's route to net zero includes a target of planting an additional 180,000 hectares with trees by 2050, but concerns have come to light about Welsh farms being purchased by multinational corporations from outside Wales to plant trees as a way of offsetting their carbon emissions. Again, this locks our landscapes under the control of people who may never set foot in Wales. And this tree planting may impact gravely on food production, social considerations and the wider environment. George Monbiot has referred to it as the great climate land grab, while the academic Dr Thomas Crowther describes it as mass corporate tree planting damaging nature. It's like something out of a dystopian novel. The Welsh Government has acknowledged that there's a problem here. It's a phenomenon that's part of a wider global trend. And surely, the environmental impact assessment requirements need reviewing to strengthen protections for human, agricultural, social and even linguistic considerations. In Wales, Dirprwy Lywydd, we are as rich in natural resources as we are with our culture and history. Those natural resources are currently being used as a means of impoverishing our potential. We cannot let this great gains grab continue. I look forward to hearing the debate.