Britain’s official energy system operator has attempted to work out what achieving net zero carbon emissions will cost, with its figures showing surging spending in the coming years.

The scale and speed of the shift to a low-carbon economy, and how to fund it, are hotly debated by political parties.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the body of the world’s leading climate scientists convened by the UN, governments must drastically reduce emissions in the next decade to avoid a catastrophic situation in which extreme weather across the globe devastates lives and livelihoods, as well as food systems and wildlife.

Investing in clean generation projects, distribution networks and replacing fossil fuel cars and boilers could be many billions of pounds cheaper if the

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