News

• German renewables industry welcomes subsidy reforms

  01 July 2008

  The 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.

• JBIC slammed for financing Sakhalin II

  01 July 2008

  The 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.

• World Bank failing on climate change, says WRI

  01 July 2008

  The 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.

• Development banks boost use of weather derivatives

  01 July 2008

  The 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.

• Suez swoops on Econergy

  01 July 2008

  French energy giant Suez is to buy Econergy International, after the directors of the UK-listed renewable energy and carbon project developer recommended that shareholders accept the £0.45 ($0.88) a share offer. That bid – made on 13 June – trumped a cash-and-shares offer from carbon fund Trading Emissions Plc (see Environmental Finance, June 2008, page 11).

• SG, Citi share research honours

  01 July 2008

  Société Générale (SG) has been named top European socially responsible investment (SRI) and sustainability research brokerage firm in the 2008 Thomson Reuters Extel Survey. Citi Investment Research came second. However, their positions were reversed in the pure SRI research category, which does not include renewable energy, corporate governance or long-term thematic research, with Citi coming first and SG second. Last year, Citi came first in both categories.

• WWF to measure carbon in China's ­supply chain

  01 July 2008

  Manufacturers in China's Pearl River delta are piloting a carbon accounting and labelling programme initiated by WWF Hong Kong. The environmental NGO aims to address concerns among Western consumers and retailers about the carbon footprint of goods sourced from China.

• Aviation industry anger over EU ETS deal

  01 July 2008

  The aviation industry has reacted angrily to a deal and Parliamentary vote that will see aviation emissions from all flights starting and landing in the EU included in the region's emissions trading scheme (ETS) from 2012.

• Carbon Trust bids to certify corporate climate claims

  01 July 2008

  The UK's Carbon Trust has launched a scheme to certify organisations which have genuinely reduced their emissions, as opposed to simply offsetting them. The 'Carbon Trust Standard' certificate will be awarded to organisations which reduce emissions through their entire supply chain.

• Clean-tech VC hits $2 billion record

  01 July 2008

  Venture capital investments in clean technology companies worldwide hit $2 billion last quarter – a record, according to the Cleantech Network, a US-based research firm. The investments, in 96 companies, beat the last record of $1.8 billion in the third quarter of 2007, and were up 58% year on year, and 48% over the previous quarter.