The uncertain and longer-term nature of innovation makes some level of failure inevitable.48 DESNZ, however, has yet to define what level of failure it could tolerate across the Framework, instead placing reliance on risk management by departments at programme and project level.49 The business case for each innovation programme includes a risk statement that needs to be consistent with a department’s overall risk appetite, which we were told ranges from medium to very high. DESNZ told us that it funds some high-risk projects and deliberately takes a range of risks to maximise the returns across its portfolio of projects.50