Something has changed dramatically in your home in a way you won’t have even noticed.

The electricity in your plug socket no longer comes from coal, the workhorse of the industrial revolution that powered our economy for decades but which is also the most polluting fossil fuel.

Now it is generated by cleaner gas, renewable and nuclear power.

That shift has helped the UK cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% since 1990 – a world-leading feat – and you won’t have batted an eyelid.

That’s about to change.

The country’s climate advisers, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), say in new advice today that emissions of greenhouse gases need to fall 87% by 2040.

One third of those emissions cuts will come from decisions made by households.

While the first stage of the country’s national climate action has “gone largely unnoticed”, the next phase will be “a lot more difficult”, said Adam Berman from Energy UK, which represents energy suppliers.

“It’s going to be technically more difficult, it is going to be much more visceral and tangible to people in their everyday lives. It affects how they get to work, what they use to heat their homes and even diet.”

Experts say if we get it right, it will make our lives better with cleaner air and better public transport.

It would also shave hundreds of pounds off annual household bills.

But it depends on what the government does next to help people.

The way we travel

The two “most impactful” things households can do are replacing their car with an electric one and a gas boiler with a heat pump (only when they pack up, and not before), the advice said.

By 2040, the share of electric cars on the road needs to jump from 2.8% in 2023 to 80% in order to meet net zero, according to the recommendations, which the government is not obliged to accept.

They are already cheaper to run than petrol or diesel cars, while the falling cost of batteries means EVs should finally cost the same upfront in the next three years.

The committee’s chief executive Emma Pinchbeck said: “Frankly, by the time a lot of people are going to be choosing a new car, the electric vehicle is just going to be the cheapest [option].”

How we heat our homes

But while the switch to electric vehicles is powering ahead, the move to greener home heating has barely left the starting blocks.

Homes are currently the second highest-emitting sector in the UK economy, and much of that comes from the way we heat them.

The CCC today put to bed calls to keep gas boilers but run them on hydrogen, recommending there be “no role for hydrogen heating in residential buildings”.

Hydrogen is hard to produce in a green way, and so would be reserved for other sectors that have no other viable alternatives.

The government is yet to confirm this decision, which would dismay the gas networks and boiler manufacturers.

Instead, the advisers said people should eventually replace boilers with heat pumps, which run on electricity and work a bit like a fridge in reverse: grabbing and compressing warmth from the outside air and using it to heat your home.

Amid a political row over the costs of net zero, the analysis concluded these two switches could save households around £700 a year on heating bills and a further £700 on motoring costs.

Cutting down on meat and on excessive flying will also play an important, but smaller role they said.

The upfront investment will cost the equivalent of 0.2% of GDP, most of which would come from the private sector.

Overcoming the costs

But at the moment the benefits of these green switches are not spread fairly, and some people can’t access them at all.

The upfront costs of a heat pump – and home upgrades needed alongside – are “sizeable” and price out poorer households, even with current government subsidies, campaigners and the CCC said.

Zachary Leather, an economist at the Resolution Foundation thinktank, said: “While politicians fret and argue about the cost of net zero, today’s report shows that there are long-term benefits for consumers and the environment.”

But the government needs to “get serious” about helping lower-income households to adopt heat pumps and EVs so they can save money too, he said.

Meanwhile, it is still cheaper for someone with a driveway to charge their EV than someone who charges theirs on the street – and electricity prices overall should be made cheaper to help people reap the benefits.

Mr Berman from Energy UK said: “All through the energy system there are these small examples that tend to mean working class households find it more expensive to take up low carbon alternatives.”

The energy transition is ‘not fair yet’

It also comes at a time of wavering support for climate action. While Labour was elected on a mandate to go faster on climate action, the Conservatives have retreated from green issues, and Reform UK wants to dismantle net zero altogether.

Mr Berman said a way to “resolve that question of public consent is to ensure we’re rolling out that infrastructure in a really, really fair and inclusive way. And we’re not there yet”.

The public are also confused about if, when and how to switch to these green technologies, and which government should tackle this with clearer guidance, the CCC said.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “This advice is independent of government policy, and we will now consider it and respond in due course.

“It is clear that the best route to making Britain energy secure, bringing down bills and creating jobs is by embracing the clean energy transition. This government’s clean energy superpower mission is about doing so in a way that grows our economy and makes working people better off.

“We owe it to current generations to seize the opportunities for energy security and lower bills, and we owe it to future generations to tackle the existential climate crisis.”

Sir Keir Starmer has admitted his decision to increase defence spending was “accelerated” by Donald Trump taking office.

The prime minister said today’s announcement was “three years in the making” after Russia invaded Ukraine – but a “very changed context” pushed him forward.

Politics Live: PM warns ‘everything has changed’ after announcing defence spending boost

In a surprise Commons statement on Tuesday morning, Sir Keir said defence spending will increase to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, funded by a cut in the foreign aid budget.

While this honours a Labour manifesto commitment, ministers have previously been tight-lipped about when the new target would be reached – with today’s decision coming ahead of a meeting between Sir Keir and Mr Trump in Washington on Thursday.

Asked by Sky News political editor Beth Rigby if Mr Trump had “bounced” him into setting out a timeline, given he has long called for European countries to boost defence spending, the prime minister said: “I think in our heart of hearts, we’ve all known that this decision has been coming for three years, since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine.

“The last few weeks have accelerated my thinking on when we needed to make this announcement.”

Analysis: Starmer has put Britain on a war footing ahead of key Trump meeting

However, he denied Mr Trump was effectively setting UK government policy, saying the defence spending increase is “very much my decision” and he has been “arguing for some time” that Europe and the UK “needed to do more”.

He said talks of “possible peace” and what that would mean for Europe’s security – with the potential for UK peacekeeping troops to be put on the ground – “has brought our response into sharp focus”.

“I have pushed our system to move this date forward because I think it’s vital that we take the decision now, that we rise to the occasion and we show the leadership that’s needed across Europe, in response to a very changed context,” he said.

The UK currently spends 2.3% of GDP on defence, with the jump to 2.5% meaning £13.4bn more will be spent annually on defence from 2027.

Sir Keir said he wants that figure to reach 3% of gross domestic product during the next parliament, but that would depend on Labour winning the next election.

Farage ‘fawning over Putin’

Asked if he is “Nigel Farage is disguise”, given the Reform UK leader has previously vowed to increase defence spending but cut the foreign aid budget, Sir Keir said: “Nigel Farage didn’t even turn up to the debate in parliament today. Nigel Farage is fawning over Putin. That’s not patriotism.

“What I’ve done is take the duty of the prime minister seriously, which is to ensure that our citizens are safe and secure.”

Mr Farage has previously faced criticism for saying the West provoked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with NATO and the EU’s expansions, and for saying he admired Vladimir Putin as a statesman.

Sir Keir’s announcement comes as Europe reels from a shift in US foreign policy, with the White House making clear it is no longer prepared to bankroll the defence of other NATO members.

Last week also saw an exchange of words between Mr Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after officials from Washington and Moscow held peace talks without anyone from Kyiv or Europe present.

‘Desertion of leadership’

Sir Keir announced the government would cut back on foreign aid to fund the increase, reducing current spending from 0.5% of GDP to 0.3% – in a move that has angered some charities.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch welcomed the measure and said she had written to the prime minister over the weekend to suggest how he could redirect money from the overseas development budget.

But former Tory defence secretary Ben Wallace said an extra 0.2% was “a staggering desertion of leadership”.

“Tone deaf to dangers of the world and demands of the United States,” he wrote on X.

“Such a weak commitment to our security and nation puts us all at risk.”