Rishi Sunak’s budget is gambling with the climate crisis

Analysis: No serious investment in UK's green future means chancellor is hoping market will deliver

In failing to make any serious new government investment in the UK's green future, Rishi Sunak has chosen to gamble that the market will deliver instead. That is a very high-stakes bet in the face of a climate emergency.

Four days before the UK hosts the crucial Cop26 climate summit, the virtual absence of the climate crisis from Sunak's budget speech was startling. The most eye-catching announcement was the halving of taxes on domestic flights, which are already far cheaper and more polluting than trains.