Next week the eyes of the world will be firmly set on the U.K. as it hosts the first U.N. climate summit in two years, as the world emerges from Covid-19. Ahead of the summit, on Oct. 27, Britain’s Finance Minister Rishi Sunak delivered a long-awaited national budget. This was the final opportunity for the U.K. government to silence its critics, and match the recently published net-zero strategy with the spending commitments required to deliver a zero-emissions future. In other words, it was an opportunity for the U.K. government to put its money where its mouth is.

But no one—even the government’s harshest critics—would have expected a national budget so bereft of detail on how the U.K. will use its financial might to tackle the climate crisis. For the 70 minutes that Sunak spoke, he failed to mention the word ‘climate’ once.

At a glance, the U.K. could be considered a global leader on climate change. It was the first country in the G7 to legislate a net-zero carbon emission target by 2050. It has even delivered a strategy to decarbonize its economy. Yet, for those who follow Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government closely, these glittering targets and flashy speeches start to look like the Emperor’s new clothes when examined more closely.