Physical climate risk can no longer be treated as a future concern. Following another year of extreme climate events and growing disruption to assets, infrastructure and supply chains, the financial materiality of climate hazards is no longer a theoretical projection, it is an increasingly immediate business reality.

The UK’s transition to a cleaner, more electrified economy is creating one of Europe’s most significant infrastructure investment opportunities. Delivering the Government’s Clean Power 2030 ambitions, and meeting rising demand from data centres, industry, transport and heating, will require network companies to invest £70–80 billion between 2026 and 2030, with a further £89 billion potentially required in the 2030s.

The market is being rebuilt around it, and the Government has recently made some significant announcements. First, Great British Grid — a publicly owned body within Great British Energy, deploying up to £4 billion and co-investing alongside private capital — opens a new phase of public–private partnership. Second, the Government will expand self-build connections; and the CATO, iTO, cap-and-floor and Regulated Asset Base regimes are creating investable structures that did not exist a few years ago.