The views expressed on this podcast are those of the participants, not of Rogers News.

As world leaders converge on Glasgow for the big UN climate powwow, we discuss one European

steel town's difficult struggle to transition from the hydrocarbon era.

Also, unicredito's M&A options.

Tune in.

Welcome to the Viewsroom. I'm Rob Cox, the editor of Breaking Views, financial commentary

arm of Reuters News, coming to you from Times Square, New York City. This week, days before

world leaders head to Glasgow for the COP26 climate conference, will take you to Taranto, Italy. That's the home of Europe's

largest steel mill, formerly called Ilva. Ilva is notorious in Italy for polluting and poisoning

many of Taranto's residents over the past decades, first under state and then under private

ownership. The company, which was sold to Arcelor Mitel a few years ago now is being

taken over by an arm of the government is aiming to transform itself into Europe's leading

producer of so-called green steel. But lots of Tarantinians, led by the mayor, want to shut the

whole plant down. Prime Minister Mario Draghi wants to keep it alive. It's the largest private

employer in southern Italy, and the steel it produces is critical to the Northern Italian industrial engine.

But as I wrote in what is a relatively long piece by breaking view standards, transitions are bumpiest in the middle.

After that, Peter Thal Larson talks to our Milan columnist Lisa Yucca about the failure of talks between Unicredito, led by veteran dealmaker Andrea Orchell and Monterepasky di Sienna.

Give a listen.

So, Rob, both of us are going to be in Glasgow next week for COP26.

And one of the big issues is what do you do about these really hard to abate, difficult to decarbonize parts of the world economy.

And one of the really obvious bits is steel. And you've been writing about Ilva, the steel mill in Italy.

So what have you found out? Yeah, well, yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing you in Glasgow, which is not a crime

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