News

• Wachovia's environmental policy falls short – RAN

  01 December 2006

  Wachovia has be­come the latest US bank to set out an environmental policy – but it has been severely criticised by the Rainforest Action Network (RAN).

• Banks lag on sustainability – Sarasin

  01 December 2006

  Most international banks are making middling efforts on sustainability, according to a Bank Sarasin study, with only HBOS making the highest grade.

• UK turns again on environmental reporting

  01 December 2006

  UK businesses will have to report on their environmental impacts after a second government u-turn.

• Carbon Trust rethinking low-carbon VC fund

  01 December 2006

  The UK's Carbon Trust has gone back to the drawing board with its plans for a venture capital (VC) fund to invest in the low-carbon and clean energy technology sectors. The trust had hoped to raise up to £75 million ($147 million) into its Carbon Trust Investments Clean Energy Fund, which it planned to list on the London Stock Exch­ange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM), but the listing was pulled in late October.

• International Power breezes into renewables

  01 December 2006

  Electricity generator International Power is to acquire wind farms with total generating capacity of 436MW from UK-based money manager Christofferson Robb & Company (CRC).

• The economics of risk

  01 December 2006

  The Stern review has energised the climate change debate – and attracted extensive criticism. Nicholas Stern defends its findings

• Commission to the rescue of EU ETS

  01 December 2006

  Doubts over the future of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) have eased, after the European Commission slashed proposed carbon dioxide (CO2) caps for its second phase.

• Expansion on the cards for EU ETS

  01 December 2006

  Areview of the future of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is to consider expanding the scheme to include additional sectors and greenhouse gases. It is also considering replacing the current system of country-by-country caps on emissions with a single, Europe-wide cap.

• France proposes carbon import tax

  01 December 2006

  The EU should impose an additional tax on goods imported from countries that fail to join a post-2012 climate agreement, according to French prime minister Dominique de Villepin.

• Schwarzenegger under fire on emissions trading plans

  01 November 2006

  California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order on 17 October proposing that any future greenhouse gas (GHG) 'cap-and-trade' scheme in the state be linked to other US regional schemes and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).