News

• Trade in GHG permits and credits up 45%

  01 September 2007

  Volumes in the world's carbon markets were up 45% year on year to 1.2 billion tonnes in the first six months of 2007, according to research from Point Carbon.

• Merrill launches energy efficiency index

  01 September 2007

  Merrill Lynch has launched an index to track companies that offer energy efficiency savings.

• US Congress poised for energy, climate breakthrough

  01 July 2007

  Hopes are high that the US Congress could pass far-reaching energy and environmental legislation in the autumn, following changes of heart from key representatives, and plans for two comprehensive Senate bills tackling greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

• Leaf float raises £200m for North American renewables

  01 July 2007

  EEA Fund Management and Shaw Capital have raised £200 million ($403 million) to invest in North American renewable energy projects through London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) market.

• US firms underestimating shareholder interest in CR

  01 July 2007

  US corporations underestimate the importance placed on corporate responsibility (CR) by shareholders, according to a survey by Thomson Financial.

• Calvert powers into alt energy

  01 July 2007

  Socially responsible fund manager Calvert has launched a Global Alternative Energy Fund that will invest directly in renewable energy companies (solar, wind geothermal, biofuel, hydrogen and biomass), related technologies and the energy efficiency sector.

• Wal-mart goes solar

  01 July 2007

  Wal-Mart has signed deals with three solar firms to supply and finance photovoltaic solar cells, generating an estimated 20,000MWh/year, to be installed on 22 of its buildings in California and Hawaii.

• Finance sector in the dark on biodiversity risks

  01 July 2007

  The financial sector has a long way to go to understand the rising risks posed by biodiversity loss, according to the author of a report on the subject for the IUCN-World Conservation Union. More work particularly needs to be done to make the link between loss of biodiversity and financial impacts, he said.

• Swiss Re bids to boost cat bond trading

  01 July 2007

  Swiss Re has started indexing the performance of catastrophe (cat) bonds in a bid to increase the transparency and encourage secondary trading of the rapidly growing asset class.

• UK outlines energy efficiency trading scheme

  01 July 2007

  The UK government has published a detailed plan for its proposed cap-and-trade scheme to encourage energy efficiency among big energy consumers.