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From the bottom up
01 July 2008Emerging markets and microfinance were the winners in this year's Sustainable Banking awards, reports Jess McCabe
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People moves this month
01 July 2008Hermes Real Estate has appointed TATIANA BOSTEELS as head of responsible property investment. She will report to director KEITH BUGDEN. Bosteels joins Hermes from the London Climate Change Agency, where she was climate change manager, developing and implementing policies through public–private vehicles. She also ran a climate change consultancy business for three years and is a director of Climate Change Solutions, a not-for-profit company that aims to promote policy and technological solutions to climate change challenges.
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US court throws emissions markets into turmoil
01 July 2008A US court has invalidated the entire Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) over "fatal flaws", sending the market for sulphur dioxide (SO2) and annual nitrogen oxides (NOx) allowances into turmoil and creating enormous uncertainty about how the US is to control airborne pollutants.
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California unveils emissions plan
01 July 2008The California Air Resources Board (CARB) draft scoping plan for emissions reductions has drawn a broadly positive response, although some question if the plan's ambition may face problems due to a weakening economy and transmission constraints.
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Carbon prices hit two-year, record highs
01 July 2008Record oil prices have driven prices for carbon allowances (EUAs) in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme to their highest levels in more than two years, while fears of a shortage of carbon credits from projects in developing countries have pushed prices of certified emission reduction (CER) credits in the secondary market above €20 ($32) for the first time.
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Weather risk market bounces back
01 July 2008The market for weather derivatives has regained much of the value it lost in the slump of 2006/07, as activity continues to migrate to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the leading marketplace for trading weather risk.
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German renewables industry welcomes subsidy reforms
01 July 2008The German renewable energy industry has broadly welcomed the government's overhaul of its renewable energy subsidies – shrugging off reductions in solar subsidies and applauding more support for offshore wind and biomass.
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JBIC slammed for financing Sakhalin II
01 July 2008The Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has organised a $5.3 billion syndicated loan to finance the Sakhalin II oil and gas project, to the consternation of NGOs, which called the decision "tragic news for the environmental and social credibility" of the banks involved.
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World Bank failing on climate change, says WRI
01 July 2008The World Bank "has not met existing G8 expectations" on integrating climate change into its operations, according to a highly critical report* released as the Bank's board approves two $5 billion-plus climate funds.
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Development banks boost use of weather derivatives
01 July 2008The World Bank is to begin offering weather derivatives as part of a strategy to reduce the impact of drought in developing countries, while the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) is targeting Thai farmers for weather deals.