News

• US power plant emissions up 12% in past decade

  01 April 2008

  Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants in the US have risen by 11.7% since 1997, with last year's 2.9% increase the largest single-year rise in the same period, according to a report by the Washington, DC-based non-profit Environmental Integrity Project (EIP).

• WRI offers industry ecosystem guidelines

  01 April 2008

  The World Resources Institute (WRI) has developed guidelines for businesses to better understand, and profit from, the link between healthy ecosystems and the bottom line.

• Ineos seeking buyers for CER portfolio

  01 April 2008

  The Ineos Group has put its Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) business up for sale, and has charged Morgan Stanley with finding buyers for the subsidiary and its massive certified emission reduction (CER) portfolio, Environmental Finance's sister publication Carbon Finance has learned.

• E.Capital launches Asian infrastructure index

  01 April 2008

  E.Capital Partners has launched an index tracking the 25 Asian infrastructure companies with the highest scores on environmental and social governance (ESG).

• Merrill backs CDP

  01 April 2008

  Merrill Lynch has signed a three-year deal to support the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), an investor collaboration that asks companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and strategies for dealing with climate change.

• Ocean fertilisation firm wins $3.5m funding

  01 April 2008

  San Francisco-based start-up Climos has raised $3.5 million to develop its ocean iron fertilisation technique. This process involves dumping iron filings into the ocean to encourage the growth of plankton, which captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, against which Climos hopes to sell carbon offsets.

• Vodafone scoops CSR report award

  01 April 2008

  Vodafone Group's corporate responsibility (CR) report has been voted the best published in 2007. The award is one of nine organised by CorporateRegister.com, which claims to have the world's largest directory of CR reports

• Shareholders claim records on climate resolutions

  01 April 2008

  Shareholders pursuing US companies for commitments on global warming have claimed two record successes. Investor group Ceres reported that an unprecedented 54 shareholder resolutions on this issue have been filed for the 2008 reporting season and, at press time, a record 20 had been withdrawn after shareholders and companies reached agreements.

• World Bank offers catastrophe loan

  01 April 2008

  The World Bank has launched a new loan facility that will deliver $500 million of emergency funding to countries hit by natural disasters.

• FTSE4Good drops seven firms on climate change

  01 April 2008

  Chemical firms Lanxess and Eastman, German cement manufacturer Heidelberg­Cement and Scottish oil and gas firm Cairn Energy are among seven companies deleted from the FTSE4­Good index family for failing to meet its climate change criteria. They failed either to have adequate governance systems or policies in place, or adequately disclose climate change information.