Analysis

• Moving into the mainstream

  01 October 2009

  Ten years ago, most investors dismissed environmental issues out of hand. Now, the evangelists and the specialists have been joined by the investment mainstream. Mark Nicholls reports

• Putting a price on the climate

  01 October 2009

  Ten years ago, the notion of a carbon market was still just that – a nice idea that was a long way from reality. Last year, it was worth in excess of $120 billion. Katie Kouchakji charts the path from good intentions to a multi-billion-dollar business

• Making the capital markets sustainable

  01 October 2009

  There was a hope that the socially responsible investment (SRI) players of 1999 would lead the charge into the development of new sustainability strategies that would win the big mandates from the pension funds.

• Come wind, come sun

  01 October 2009

  Climate change and energy security concerns have conspired to begin a revolution in how the world generates power. But its progress has been far from smooth, reports Jess McCabe

• A critical part of the energy mix

  01 October 2009

  Looking forward five to 10 years, renewable energy is set to firmly establish itself as a critical part of the energy mix. The opportunity and requirements are huge, but we firmly believe the market is ready to deliver it.

• Biofuels boom and bust – and beyond?

  01 October 2009

  It seems like a good idea; replace expensive and polluting fossil transportation fuels, often sourced from unstable parts of the world, with cleaner, home-produced biofuels made from plants.

• Whither goes the weather market?

  01 October 2009

  The market for weather risk management products has been around for more than 11 years now, having survived the early decade implosion of the energy merchants that founded the market as well as the recent credit crisis and massive deleveraging that the financial markets have experienced over the past 18 months. I think it's safe to say that – barring draconian legislation out of Washington on financial market reform – weather risk management has established itself as a valuable proposition for companies and government entities around the world and is here to stay.

• WRMA survey – the whole truth?

  01 October 2009

  Since 2001, the Weather Risk Management Association (WRMA) has conducted an annual survey of the weather market, asking its members to disclose, anonymously, what deals they've done both on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and those negotiated privately over the counter (OTC).

• Opening the time capsule

  01 October 2009

  Ten years ago in June, the International Emissions Trading Association was formed. Andrei Marcu, its former president, looks back over the decade that created the carbon market

• Solid success – but a shaky future

  01 October 2009

  The use of cap-and-trade programmes to control acid rain and smog-forming emissions in the US has been a singular environmental and economic success, reports Daniel Chartier. But are they doomed?