News

• EU carbon prices fall, as uncertainty lingers

  01 October 2006

  Prices of EU carbon dioxide allowances (EUAs) fell in mid-September, with some market participants arguing that the EU Emissions Trading Scheme market could be beginning its long-anticipated trend towards zero. Meanwhile, other traders say that the delayed submission of member states' national allocation plans – setting emissions targets for Phase II of the EU ETS, from 2008, is harming the market. On 21 September, the European Climate Exchange's December 2006 EUA contract closed at €13.55 ($17.35)/t, down from €16.25 three days earlier.

• Abu Dhabi launches $250 million cleantech fund

  01 October 2006

  The government of Abu Dhabi has invested $100 million into a new clean technology fund in partnership with investment bank Credit Suisse and the Consensus Business Group, a UK-based property investment firm.

• Climate Change Capital on track for $1 billion carbon fund

  01 October 2006

  Climate Change Capital (CCC) is expecting to top $1 billion for its second carbon fund – making the London-based boutique merchant bank the world's biggest private sector carbon asset manager. CCC had reached $830 million by its first close on 11 September, taking just three months to raise the money, which came from Dutch pension funds ABP and PGGM, UK-based energy company Centrica and a fourth unnamed investor, described as a "global emerging markets banking group".

• CDP response plateaus, but widens

  01 October 2006

  Roughly the same number of the world's 500 largest companies responded to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) this year as last, the CDP reported last month*.

• Nomura on the look-out for cleantech investments

  01 October 2006

  Japanese financial giant Nomura has set up a new energy and clean technology private equity business, to focus on late-stage venture capital (VC) investing. The company has hired Russell Pullan from the UK's Carbon Trust to head the team (see Environmental Finance, July–August 2006, page 16).

• Car makers under fire on CO2 emissions

  01 October 2006

  EU car makers will have to "substantially increase their efforts" if they are to meet voluntary targets to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from new cars, according to the European Commission.

• EU report supports mandatory biofuel targets

  01 October 2006

  Mandatory targets must replace the current indicative goals if biofuels are to account for a larger share of the EU energy market, according to a report published by the European Commission.

• FTSE4Good and DJSI review index components

  01 October 2006

  Two socially responsible investment (SRI) index families, FTSE4Good and the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI), have implemented the latest annual reviews of the companies they track.

• Chemical industry sets out sustainability plan

  01 October 2006

  The European chemicals industry has developed a 20-year strategy to focus R&D spending on improving the sustainability of the sector.

• Market seen beating US renewable fuels standard

  01 October 2006

  The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set out its plans for a Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), with credit trading, to increase the proportion of biofuels used in the US. However, analysts say market forces will create more demand than the RFS mandates.