Did the government just kill net zero? Not quite. The legal target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 remains. What has changed is the short term priorities and the political and economic case for getting there.

If you were playing Top Trumps with the UK’s infrastructure pipeline, lower bills and stronger national security would now beat carbon savings alone. Defence is the big winner in public spending, and parts of the energy transition are helping to pay for it. The immediate test is what projects do for people’s pockets and the country’s resilience.

Less public cash does not mean every project stops. Much of the energy transition is already privately led and financed. Government grants are only part of the wider pipeline. The sharper divide is between schemes with a commercial case and those still relying on government support.