News

• Cleantech VC investing doubles – report

  01 April 2007

  Venture capital invested in the cleantech sector globally hit $1.28 billion last year, in 140 financing rounds, up from $664 million in 103 rounds in 2005, according to research from Ernst & Young and Dow Jones VentureOne.

• E. Capital launches climate change index

  01 April 2007

  E. Capital Partners has launched an index to track companies likely to benefit from efforts to tackle climate change.

• CME launches weekly weather contracts

  01 April 2007

  The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is adding weekly weather futures and options to its weather derivative contracts. The CME – which lists monthly and seasonal heating degree day and cooling degree day contracts on 35 cities around the world – is to add weekly contracts on temperatures in 18 US cities from 2 April.

• Repower bidding war hots up

  01 April 2007

  Areva has raised its offer for German wind turbine manufacturer Repower to €140 ($187) a share, trumping the €126 bid that Indian wind turbine maker Suzlon made in early February.

• Western US states to form GHG market

  01 April 2007

  The US states of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington have agreed a regional initiative to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

• Parliamentarians push for G8+5 climate deal

  01 March 2007

  A group bringing together legislators from both the major industrialised and developing countries has reached an agreement on climate change that its organisers hope will feed into G8 talks on the issue.

• GLG launches 'green' hedge fund

  01 March 2007

  GLG Partners, an $18 billion London-based hedge fund manager, is raising funds into an open-ended environmental hedge fund. The GLG Environment Fund will use research from Trucost to identify companies within its $1.5 billion European equity strategy with a lighter environmental footprint, on the assumption – backed up by back-testing – that they will outperform the wider market.

• Suzlon outbids Areva for Repower

  01 March 2007

  Indian wind turbine manufacturer Suzlon has triggered a takeover battle for Repower Systems, a German wind turbine maker that was last month the subject of a bid from Areva, a French nuclear and electricity transmission company.

• Standard RECs contract released

  01 March 2007

  A standard contract for trading renewable energy certificates (RECs) was released in February by the American Bar Association, the Environmental Markets Association and the American Council on Renewable Energy. Those organisations formed a joint committee in 2005 to develop a contract that would be technology-neutral and usable in both compliance and voluntary markets (see Environmental Finance, November 2006, page 20).

• EU aims for 25% cut in car emissions

  01 March 2007

  The European Commission has proposed mandatory targets to compel car makers to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2)?emissions from new cars by around 25% by 2012.