News

• 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.

• Prince Charles backs £1bn sustainable property fund

  01 July 2008

  Prince Charles is launching a £1 billion ($2 billion) fund, Tellesma, to invest in sustainable developments in the UK. It will focus on brownfield sites and commercial properties, developing a mix of offices and residences to build 'sustainable communities'.

• RMS software to simplify cat trading

  01 July 2008

  Risk Management Solutions has launched software it hopes will simplify the trading of catastrophe insurance risk. The Miu platform allows users to quickly quantify a portfolio of cat risk positions, using RMS's analysis. The US-based risk modelling firm believes the platform will help increase the size of the insurance-linked security (ILS) market.

• Spectron claims REC first

  01 July 2008

  Spectron Environmental has brokered a 'national' option deal for voluntary, Green-E, wind renewable energy certificates (RECs) in the US.

• EDP Renováveis raises €1.8 billion at IPO

  01 July 2008

  Portuguese utility EDP listed its renewable power arm on Euronext Lisbon last month, raising €1.8 billion ($2.9 billion) including greenshoe options.