News

• Smooth, if cheap, start to first US carbon market

  01 October 2008

  Prices for the inaugural auction in the first mandatory US carbon dioxide emissions trading sch­eme were at the low end of pre-auction expectations and below futures contract prices, but demand was strong and all available allowances were sold.

• Looming US?climate legislation boosts CDP response

  01 October 2008

  Anticipation of climate change regulation in the US is driving major US companies to voluntarily disclose their risks and mitigation strategies, but there is concern that underlying economic woes could steal some of the momentum from climate change initiatives.

• Investors demand SEC acts on oil and gas climate risk

  01 October 2008

  Investors are calling on the US Securities and Exch­ange Commission (SEC) to force oil and gas companies to disclose climate change risks, as the SEC considers proposals to modernise rep­orting standards.

• Hopes dim for quick fix for US clean air rule

  01 October 2008

  Hopes for a 'quick fix' to reinstate limits on emissions from power plants in the eastern US appeared dashed in late September. However, efforts are continuing to rebuild the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), after it was unexpectedly struck down by judges in July, throwing utility emissions control plans, and the US emissions markets, into turmoil.

• Congressional bickering stalls PTC, again

  01 October 2008

  Prospects for extending production tax credits (PTC) for renewable energy before they expire are faltering, following the failure last month of the US Senate and House of Representatives to compromise on proposed legislation.

• Dow Jones, CCX launch carbon indexes

  01 October 2008

  Dow Jones and the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) have launched two carbon indexes, the first in a planned series. The two indexes will be based on futures contracts listed on the CCX's European sister, the European Climate Exchange. One will be based on EU allowance (EUA) futures, the other calculated from certified emission reduction (CER) futures prices.

• Markets in meltdown

  01 October 2008

  Just when it seems that it can't get any worse, it does. A financial sector that has been staggering under the weight of hundreds of billions of dollars of bad assets for over a year seems on the verge of collapse. At the end of last month, banks were falling like ninepins, while US policy-makers were struggling to come up with a sensible and timely response to stop the rot.

• IFC to measure portfolio's carbon footprint

  01 October 2008

  The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is considering the introduction of 'carbon accounting' across its lending and investment portfolio, in an effort to understand its climate exposures better. While the IFC is not planning to disclose or set targets for the carbon-intensity of its investments, the move is likely to increase pressure on the development bank, the private sector arm of the World Bank, to decarbonise its lending.

• Good news, and bad, for CDM

  01 October 2008

  The crucial, and long-delayed, link to allow buyers to import Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) carbon credits into the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is to be put in place this month – offering succour for developers and investors who have endured delays in generating cash.

• UN PRI begins to bite

  01 October 2008

  Two asset managers have lost £175 million ($309 million) in mandates for the pension fund of the UK's Environment Agency, partly because they have not signed up to the UN's Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).