News

• PACE consortium directs $1.5bn to energy-efficient buildings

  22 September 2011

  A new consortium will invest $1.5 billion in private capital to support US cities in financing energy retrofits in the commercial sector, utilising the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) model.

• Carbon offset markets key to $100bn climate finance target – World Bank

  22 September 2011

  Removing fossil fuel subsidies, pricing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions at $25 a tonne and a thriving carbon offset market are key to providing the developing world with $100 billion a year in climate finance, according to a leaked World Bank report.

• Bond markets could finance UK home retrofits

  20 September 2011

  To finance energy-saving improvements to thousands of UK homes, local authorities should band together to form a 'Green Deal warehouse' and issue bonds, a report due out tomorrow will argue.

• Green taxes to pave way to 'resource efficient Europe'

  20 September 2011

  The European Commission has drawn up a "roadmap to a resource efficient Europe", which it believes shows the way for the EU to decouple economic growth from resource use and prepare for a more sustainable future based on innovation. EU environment commissioner Janez Potočnik called for more green taxes to bolster the shift, but he shied away from announcing any bold changes in policy.

• Renewable energy developers shackled on tax breaks

  20 September 2011

  Persuading the US Congress to allow renewable energy projects to use master limited partnerships (MLPs) to secure financing is likely a pipe dream in the current political environment, experts said.

• Biofuels firm Mascoma eyes $100m IPO

  19 September 2011

  US biofuels firm Mascoma is planning to raise $100 million in an initial public offering (IPO).

• Buyers sought for turbine maker Proven Energy

  19 September 2011

  Scottish wind turbine manufacturer Proven Energy has been put into receivership, following the discovery of a defect in one of its models.

• EBRD invests €40m in Turkish clean energy fund

  19 September 2011

  An equity fund to invest in clean energy projects in Turkey has received a €40 million ($54 million) shot in the arm from the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

• WWF calls for forest bond market to finance conservation

  19 September 2011

  A market in 'forest bonds' could offer a vital means of raising the finance necessary to protect the world's tropical forests, WWF says in a report published today.

• Political support for UK green economy seen lacking

  15 September 2011

  The UK's political leadership is not showing enough support for the transition to a green economy, according to environmental industry leaders and a report by the think-tank Green Alliance out today.