The law of unintended consequences

Churchill is quoted as once saying: “I am preparing my impromptu remarks”. It seems that decisions about long-term green investments are sometimes made without such forethought, delivering some unintended results. For example, when the US decided to support mass production of bioethanol it was not long before scientists started raising the alarm. Apparently, unlike tropical…

A need for nuance

Investors in the energy and environmental space know that, for better or worse, policy matters. Some examples are obvious, like direct government subsidies for renewable power generation. Others are equally recognisable but have a more indirect impact, like landfill tax. And then there is a large number of ‘micro’policies such as industry- and product-specific standards…