Europe could profit from early climate protection even if no other countries join in, according to the RECIPE study published by Allianz and WWF. But here is the catch: we have to act before 2020 to make any meaningful impact, and some industries will suffer while others prosper.

Global warming is a peculiar force. It doesn’t just change the climate; it also blurs the boundaries that once seperated the good guys and the bad guys in the battle against climate change.

The utility Duke Energy, for example, is one of the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide in the already carbon-heavy United States. But its CEO Paul Anderson has been lobbying hard for a mandatory carbon tax that would help cut CO2 emissions and render electricity, Duke’s central product, more expensive.

It’s a surprise at first, but there is business logic to Andersons strategy. Global warming, he argues, is here to stay so we better tackle it with a uniform approach. “We can’t afford a patchwork of inconsistent state or local regulations that will complicate and increase the cost of compliance,” Anderson says. Companies like Nike or Apple thought along similar lines when they decided to leave the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over the association’s reluctance to fight climate change.