Industry should embrace stronger environmental controls, a leading chemicals manufacturer has urged, as ministers from the world's biggest polluting countries meet in London for the final stages of climate change talks that will culminate in Copenhagen in December.

Peter Huntsman, chief executive of Huntsman, a leading US chemicals group, told the Financial Times the US and European Union should act together to raise environmental standards for manufacturing and force global competitors to comply as a condition of access to their markets. “Our industry ought to be out fighting for . . . a higher standard instead of falling to the lowest common denominator,” Mr Huntsman said.

However, his remarks may be seen as protectionist, since any attempt by the US and EU to link environmental controls directly to trade could be seen as a way of excluding competitors in the developing world from the largest western markets. In London Todd Stern, President Barack Obama's special envoy for climate change, said developing countries must do more than they have agreed so far to curb growth of their emissions.