Copenhagen failure could lead to green 'protectionism'

Schroders Simon Webber warns a failure to reach agreement at the UN climate change conference could impact carbon intensive industries such as steel.

Webber, the Schroder Global Climate Change fund manager, believes the lack of a deal in Copenhagen will lead to "environmental protectionism" to the detriment of heavy industry. "In regions such as Europe where tough regulation and carbon pricing is already underway, parallel carbon tariffs on imports would likely become a more popular tool to protect domestic industry from unfair competitive disadvantage," he says. "This environmental protectionism would have many important consequences for investors, particularly in energy intensive industries such as steel and polysilicon, as well...