News

• China quake shakes carbon credit supply

  01 June 2008

  The impact of the 12 May earthquake in China's Sichuan province on scores of hydropower projects in the area, as well as the extent of damage to the country's largest manufacturer of power generation equipment, remains unclear.

• Biofuel-friendly US Farm Bill voted through with huge majority

  01 June 2008

  The US Congress has voted overwhelmingly to pass legislation that shifts tax breaks towards cellulosic ethanol production and renews support for biodiesel production. Lawmakers are also debating revisions to the tax code that would stop 'splash and dash' trades, which has led to the EU being flooded with cheap biodiesel routed via the US.

• McCain's plan opens door to offsets

  01 June 2008

  Presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain unveiled his climate change plan on 12 May, calling for a cap-and-trade scheme that would initially allow the use of offset credits for 100% of compliance. He also pledged to engage in UN-led negotiations on a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

• $20bn boost for US?wind power supply chain

  01 June 2008

  Companies supplying the US wind-energy industry should be the biggest winners of plans by Texas oilman T Boone Pickens to build America's largest wind farm in the Texas panhandle, analysts say.

• Noble Environmental to blaze trail with Nasdaq IPO

  01 June 2008

  US wind energy developer Noble Environmental Power has filed plans to raise up to $375 million via an initial public offering on ­Nasdaq – the first time a ­significant US wind energy developer has tested the ­public markets.

• Fund managers 'a long way' from addressing environmental risks

  01 June 2008

  The fund management industry as a whole increasingly recognises that environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues can influence risk and drive returns, but it is struggling to integrate them into its day-to-day operations, according to a new study.

• Carbon market worth $64bn in 2007 – World Bank

  01 June 2008

  The value of the global carbon market doubled last year, to $64 billion, the World Bank said last month in its annual State and Trends of the Carbon Market report. However, growth in transactions from new Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects came to a halt last year and risks plummeting as the Kyoto Protocol's expiry in 2012 nears.

• Private equity giant to develop environmental metrics

  01 June 2008

  Leading US private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) is to require companies in which it invests to measure and improve their environmental performance, in a partnership with Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). The two organisations are to develop pilot metrics that they hope will be rolled out across KKR's portfolio and, ultimately, more widely.

• Shell turns away from landmark wind project

  01 June 2008

  Royal Dutch/Shell is weathering a storm of criticism after confirming plans to sell its stake in the London Array – a massive 1,000MW offshore wind farm.

• Exxon resists shareholder revolt on climate, governance

  01 June 2008

  ExxonMobil has resisted pressure to strengthen its response to climate change by the descendants of the company's founder, John D Rockefeller, as well as by large institutional shareholders, including the $250 billion California Public Employees Retirement System.