News

• UK commits £1bn to low-carbon vehicle research

  15 July 2013

  The government and the automotive industry in the UK have each agreed to invest £500 million ($755 million) over the next 10 years to develop and commercialise technologies for low-carbon vehicles.

• EIB issues record-breaking €650m green bond

  12 July 2013

  The European Investment Bank (EIB) has issued a €650 million ($849.4 million) Climate Awareness Bond (CAB) – the largest ever green bond to be denominated in euros, and the first to use the EIB's ECoop framework.

• First UK solar fund IPO marks 'pivotal moment' for sector

  12 July 2013

  A UK solar photovoltaic (PV) investment fund has raised £130 million ($196.5 million) through a successful stock market flotation, in a move that marks a "pivotal moment in the growth of large-scale UK solar".

• EIB should be lender of last resort for offshore wind, claims banker

  11 July 2013

  Commercial banks are increasingly willing to finance offshore wind farms, meaning the European Investment Bank (EIB) should step back and take a less prominent role in lending to projects, a leading banker in the sector has claimed.

• Global benchmark performs better without fossil fuel stocks, claims asset manager

  11 July 2013

  Eliminating the fossil fuel stocks from a global benchmark index and replacing them with environmentally friendly alternatives would have had a positive effect on return over the past seven years, an asset manager has claimed.

• BASF calls for standardised environmental accounting methodology

  10 July 2013

  Chemicals giant BASF has thrown its weight behind calls for a standardised methodology for companies to develop environmental profit and loss (EP&L) accounts, Environmental Finance has learned.

• UK opens wheat-fuelled biorefinery, ahead of EU vote

  10 July 2013

  The UK's largest biorefinery, officially opened on Tuesday, will produce 420 million litres of bioethanol – a third of the country's current need – when operating at full capacity, the owners said.

• Investor consortium signs $260m US wind farm deal

  10 July 2013

  Owners of a US wind project have secured $260 million of financing from a consortium of investors.

• AfDB plans $500m green bond issue by end October

  10 July 2013

  The African Development Bank (AfDB) plans to issue a $500 million green bond in September or October, Environmental Finance can reveal.

• Solar lease funds reach record high in Q2

  09 July 2013

  Third-party finance companies raised a record $1.33 billion for residential and commercial solar projects in the second quarter of this year, double the amount raised in the previous three months, a US consultancy said.