News

• 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).

• Evolution Markets raises $15 million

  01 November 2006

  Leading environmental markets broker Evolution Markets has raised $15 million that will, among other things, fund a push into investment banking and biofuels. The money – the first external financing the company has raised – came from Hartford, Connecticut private equity group CCP Equity Partners.

• $10 billion public–private partnership to reap Texas wind

  01 November 2006

  After overtaking California this year as the leading US state in terms of wind power capacity, Texas looks set to cement that lead by initiating a $10 billion ­public–private partnership to further wind development in the state.

• EPA particulate matter standards please no one

  01 November 2006

  The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new standards for particulate matter in late September, cutting the daily standards for the smallest particles by nearly half – from 65 micrograms per cubic metre of air to just 35 micrograms in the same volume.

• DuPont eyes $6bn in revenues from new green push

  01 November 2006

  Chemicals giant DuPont expects to generate $6 billion in additional revenues by 2015 as a consequence of its renewed sustainability commitments, it announced in mid-­October.

• Wells Fargo tops EPA green power chart

  01 November 2006

  Wells Fargo has become the largest corporate buyer of 'green' electricity in the US, according to rankings released by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week.

• First offshore wind farm project financing imminent

  01 November 2006

  The first project financing of an offshore wind farm was due to be completed by the end of October, according to bankers involved in the deal. As Environmental Finance went to press in mid-October, Dexia Credit Local, Rabobank and BNP Paribas were close to arranging some €230 million ($290 million) of financing for the 120MW Q7 wind farm off the coast of the Netherlands.

• Eco-securitisation' mulled to protect forests

  01 November 2006

  Forum for the Future is carrying out an R&D programme to examine the prospects for "eco-securitisation" to finance sustainable forestry. The project is designed to test the technical feasibility of using securitisation techniques – widely used to repackage and sell on portfolios of mortgages, car loans and even rock musicians' royalties – to extract value from, and hence protect, the world's forests.