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It has been known for years that climate change is happening and is man-made. The latest scientific evidence reiterates these facts, and there is growing concern that the world is heading for a catastrophic temperature rise of 4°C. Skeptics claim that there is little point in Britain acting alone to tackle climate change while other countries – notably the US and China – continue to burn fossil fuels. However, while this may be a compelling argument, both President Obama and President Xi are now taking climate change seriously, as is documented in this report. Addressing climate change is an important goal in its own right, but this report shows that it can help address three of the greatest challenges facing our country. The consumer challenge: energy and transport costs have spiralled and trust in markets has declined, while living standards have stagnated. The capacity challenge: there has been a lack of investment in much-needed new infrastructure, and not enough emphasis has been placed on managing existing usage of energy and transport. The regional challenge: while there has been economic recovery at the national level, there has been varied performance in terms of decent jobs and growth in our regions.