T he campaign for a sustainable, low-carbon future is not going well. A Norwegian Arctic measuring station last week reported that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere had reached a new peak, at 394 parts per million, heading for the danger levels at which we are told violent climate change will set in.

Meanwhile, an FT/Harris poll tells us that two-thirds of western European consumers are reluctant to pay more on their sky-high energy bills to cut emissions and subsidise renewables, while European industry's grumbles at the prospect of higher energy costs and even more ferocious lower-cost competition from Asia are growing louder.