The budget missed too many opportunities on net zero, now the chancellor has to put it right
After watching the chancellor’s autumn spending review, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the UK public was more concerned by the price of a pint than by the looming threat of climate change. Changes to alcohol duties dominated the tail end of Sunak’s speech in which he mentioned wine twelve times, cider ten, and alcohol nine. The words “net zero”, on the other hand, were only mentioned three times, while he did not utter the phrase “climate change” once – and the only mention of “environment” came in relation to the pub.
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In a week’s time, the government will unveil its first budget. It will be keen to deliver on the big spending promises pledged in the Conservative manifesto, particularly in the newly won northern constituencies. The manifesto also promised to prioritise the environment. 
This post is by Colin Hines, convenor of the UK 
In British politics, governing is as much performance art as it is accounting. Even ‘Fiscal Phil’, that most studious scrutiniser of the spreadsheet knows this. Perhaps this is why his green headlines ahead of the budget were about a single use plastics tax, a clampdown on dirty diesels and a push on EVs. These followed a green October, with Michael Gove ditching neonicotinoids and consulting on a bottle deposit scheme, and Claire Perry producing a 
The chancellor described his budget as taking bold decisions to “act now so we don’t pay later.” Osborne announced £730 million of funding for “less established” renewables and endorsed storage, demand response and interconnection. Half an hour before the Budget, the prime minister had said the UK would cut power sector emissions by 85 per cent by 2030, which is consistent with the 
Inside track 