News

• CAIR reinstatement revives emissions markets

  01 February 2009

  US emission markets were brought back to life after judges agreed to a limited reprieve of the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). Allowance prices jumped as speculators and utilities entered the market, but bearish fundamentals have since brought them back down to earth.

• Tsing Capital fund gets Japanese backing

  01 February 2009

  The Japan Bank for International Cooperation and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ have each invested $15 million in Tsing Capital's China Environment Fund III, which is seeking up to $250 million.

• Irish bail-out mandates environmental funds

  01 February 2009

  Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland and Anglo Irish Bank are each to launch a €100 million ($130 million) environmental fund, as a condition of the 21 December recapitalisation package agreed with the Irish government.

• Goldman Sachs launches first 'sustainability' fund

  01 February 2009

  Goldman Sachs is marketing its first equity fund that explicitly integrates environmental, social and governance (ESG) research into its investment approach. GS Sustain, which is being marketed to retail and institutional customers in the UK and continental Europe, is designed to invest in companies set to profit from climate change, population growth and natural resource constraints.

• Ex-Citi SRI analysts start new firm

  01 February 2009

  Mike Tyrrell and Natalie Davis, both former members of Citi's socially responsible investment (SRI) research team, have set up an independent research firm named Sustainable Investor.

• Dreyfus to use DJSI index for mutual fund

  01 February 2009

  Dreyfus, part of BNY Mellon Asset Management, has launched its Global Sustainability Fund, claiming it is the first US mutual fund invested in stocks picked from the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World).

• Wall Street cautious on Obama's green new deal

  01 February 2009

  President Barack Obama's pledges to ramp up clean energy generation in the US and stimulus packages proposed by the House of Representatives and Senate have provided encouragement to the renewable energy lobby – but investors remain to be convinced that renewable energy stocks will see much short-term benefit.

• GE and Epuron launch $250m Asia renewables fund

  01 February 2009

  Epuron and GE Energy Financial Services have launched a renewable energy fund focused on the Asia-Pacific region.

• USDA office to promote ecosystem markets

  01 February 2009

  The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has set up an office to streamline information about ecosystems services and foster the growth of these markets.

• Stimulus packages to direct $432bn to environment

  01 February 2009

  Governments have earmarked $432 billion to boost environmental infrastructure and technologies as they attempt to ward off economic meltdown, according to research from HSBC.