News

• French scheme awards €1.2bn SRI mandates

  01 March 2007

  ERAFP, the French public service pension scheme, has awarded mandates to four socially responsible investment (SRI) managers, to make equity investments expected to top €1.2 billion ($1.6 billion) over the next four years.

• China to refuse loans on environmental grounds

  01 March 2007

  China's central bank is working on a plan to refuse loans to companies with poor environmental records, under a nationwide system that will factor environmental information into loan applications.

• TXU buyers step away from coal

  01 March 2007

  The proposed acquisition of US utility TXU by two private equity firms is being called an "earthquake" in the US power industry, since the new owners will abandon plans for controversial coal plants.

• State dropouts will cut mercury prices, says EPA

  01 March 2007

  The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) foresees a healthy trading market for mercury, despite the withdrawal of some big states from its planned programme, and says their absence will actually reduce allowance prices.

• Goldman exceeds green investment goal

  01 March 2007

  Goldman Sachs invested more than $1.5 billion in renewable energy and clean technologies during 2006, the investment bank said in a report summarising its achievements in the first year of its environmental initiative.

• Piper Jaffray closes cleantech fund

  01 March 2007

  US investment bank Piper Jaffray closed a $60 million clean technology venture capital fund-of-funds on 29 January, far exceeding its original target of $25 million.

• EIB warns Africa may suffer as Chinese banks move in

  01 March 2007

  Philippe Maystadt, president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), has warned that the bank is losing out on projects in Africa to Chinese lenders that do not apply environmental, social or corporate governance conditions on borrowers.

• IFC, State Street to launch emerging markets SRI fund

  01 March 2007

  The International Fin­ance Corporation (IFC) has approved a long-awaited socially responsible investment fund to invest in companies in emerging markets. The IFC claims that the Emerging Markets Sustainability Fund will be the first of its kind, and "is expected to convince private fund managers investing in emerging markets that sustainability policies stand to improve their competitiveness".

• Flurry of deals seen in solar sector

  01 March 2007

  In a month that saw a flurry of financings in the solar sector, Q-Cells, Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) and Good Energies have completed a complex multi-billion-euro deal. It sees Switzerland-based Good Energies – an investment company with more than $3 billion in renewable energy assets – selling out of its holding in Norwegian solar company Renewable Energy Corporation, reaping more than $2 billion in cash and shares.

• Germany backs down on EU ETS

  01 March 2007

  Germany has decided to accept the European Commission's ruling that it should lower its cap on carbon dioxide emissions for Phase II of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.