The recent energy squeeze has shown us the unseen consequences of curtailed investment in fossil fuels, highlighting that the opportunities for investors to generate good returns from the required transition might not be the most obvious ones.
A similar phenomenon is occurring in the metals market, where investments have dwindled in the steel industry, one of the highest carbon-emitting sectors due to the use of coking coal both as fuel and support in the blast furnace.
Its history of poor returns and high volatility as well as being a commodity that the Chinese make in bulk have meant that the steel industry has never really been investor-friendly. But the lack of certainty on the pathway to decarbonisation has made it even more unattractive.