http://www.firstclimate.com/ Latest News en http://www.firstclimate.com//fileadmin/images/assets/rss_icon.gif http://www.firstclimate.com/ 34 34 Latest News TYPO3 - get.content.right http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Fri, 28 May 2010 09:00:00 +0200 http://www.firstclimate.com/en/press-events/news-details/article/2010/03/06/first-climate-in-wall-street-journal-will-cleantech-get-a-larger-share-of-the-vc-pie.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=30&cHash=e942dc0e70 In a recent article, Andrew Thomson of the Cleantech Group, compared the share of cleantech in VC investments across countries.
While cleantech in North America and Europe accounts for about 20-25% of overall VC funding, the total in India and China is closer to 10-15% (based on comparisons between Cleantech Group data and overall VC funding data from Venture Source and Venture Intelligence).


The full article is available here:

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/india-chief-mentor/2010/03/06/will-cleantech-get-a-larger-share-of-the-vc-pie/]]> Press Clipping Sat, 06 Mar 2010 10:05:00 +0100 http://www.firstclimate.com/en/press-events/news-details/article/2010/03/03/first-climate-in-carbon-finance.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=30&cHash=5602200ede A leading carbon asset manager has begun marketing a potentially €100 million ($137 million) post-2012 ‘buyers’ pool’ – and reports high levels of interest, despite the uncertainty currently...
Germany’s First Climate began marketing its International Carbon Compliance Initiative in January, primarily to European utilities.

“Despite the uncertainty, we found there is lots of interest,” Martin Schulte, First Climate’s director of carbon investment management, told Carbon Finance. “I’m a little surprised by the response.”

The pool will buy certified emissions reductions (CERs), primarily for delivery post-2012, but it will also buy some pre-2013 credits. It will look to buy CERs from projects expected to be eligible in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) after 2012. It expects to pay €6-9 per CER.

Schulte said the company is signing letters of intent with participants, without providing further details, and is hoping for a first close at the end of June and a final close at the end of the year.

He added that the company has been targeting larger utilities, hoping to gain some traction before turning to small and medium-size companies, who are more natural participants for such a pool, given their difficulty in accessing the primary project market.

First Climate is also in discussions with Japanese emitters, but Schulte notes there is less clarity on Japan’s position post-2012.

The pool follows the €125 million Post 2012 Carbon Credit Fund, which First Climate advises on behalf of the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The company said in January it expects that fund to be fully invested in the first half of this year.


Source: www.carbon-financeonline.com]]> Press Clipping Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:03:00 +0100 http://www.firstclimate.com/en/press-events/news-details/article/2010/03/01/first-climate-in-trading-carbon-under-the-microscope.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=30&cHash=ff18b2a6c7 China-based renewables projects again came under scrutiny at the latest clean development mechanism executive board meeting.
One of the few positives to come out of December's UN climate change meeting (COP15) in Copenhagen was planned reform of the clean development mechanism (CDM).

The mechanism, which has creaked under the weight of bureaucracy over the past two years, is the second-biggest carbon market in the world and at COP 15 the UN promised efforts to tackle some of the problems.

...


Source: Trading Carbon, Vol. 4, Issue 02, March 2010, pp. 38-39]]> Press Clipping Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:11:00 +0100 http://www.firstclimate.com/en/press-events/news-details/article/2010/02/25/first-climate-in-transporter-news-de-avd-steigt-fuer-seine-fahrzeugflotte-in-den-emissionshandel-ei.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=30&cHash=4bee6ae2d4 GLOBAL United Football Club is a football project that consists of more than 180 of the world’s most famous former players and coaches. Its mission is to fight global warming by playing exhibition...
According to the founding member of the club, Lutz Pfannenstiel, he plans to stage a match in Windhoek on May 26 where former top international football stars will make their presence.

He said the former players from various countries are expected to play against defending champions African Stars and several former legends of the Brave Warriors in a one-off match which will take place at the Sam Nujoma Stadium.

He said former international greats such as Aldair from Brazil, Sunday Oliseh from Nigeria, Elber from Brazil, Tore Andre-Flo from Norway and Guido Buchwald from Germany are expected to be in action.

The full article is available here:


Source: http://www.namibian.com.na/sport/local/full-story/archive/2010/february/article/ex-footballers-come-to-nam/]]> Press Clipping Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:11:00 +0100 http://www.firstclimate.com/en/press-events/news-details/article/2010/02/19/first-climate-in-the-namibian-ex-footballers-come-to-nam-kopie-1-1.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=30&cHash=01822770df Der Tausch von Minderungszertifikaten aus CDM-Projekten (Certified Emissions Reductions, CERs) gegen EU-Allowances (EUAs) liegt derzeit im Trend. „Unternehmen kaufen zunehmend EUAs zurück und wahren so die Chance, auch aus künftigen Swaps Vorteile zu ziehen“, sagte Sandra Altmeyer, Client Relationship Manager bei der First Climate AG, bei der  Fachmesse E-World in Essen. Wer CERs zur Compliance einsetze, verliert nach ihrer Ansicht eine  Möglichkeit, zusätzliche Gewinne abzuschöpfen. CERs sind im europäischen Emissionshandelssystem   bis 2020 einsetzbar.

Zwar hat der zusammenlaufende Spread zwischen EUAs und CERs das Interesse der CO2-Marktteilnehmer an entsprechenden Tauschgeschäften zuletzt deutlich gedämpft. Der Spread liegt derzeit bei rund 1,30 EUR. Sandra Altmeyer geht jedoch davon aus, dass sich die Preisdifferenz  zwischen den beiden Zertifikategruppen wieder ausweiten wird. Dann lohne sich der Swap EUA/CER wieder.

Mit der langfristigen Preiserholung bei den Minderungszertifikaten bis 2020 sei unter anderem auch deshalb zu rechnen, weil europäische Compliance- und Regierungskäufer künftig nicht die einzigen Interessenten für CERs sein werden. Als mögliche Käufer könnten im Falle eines internationalen  Klimaabkommens auch Australien, die USA und Japan auftreten. Ohne verbindliches globales Abkom-
men werde zumindest die Nachfrage aus den USA höchstwahrscheinlich ausbleiben, weil die   US-Unternehmen dann auf inländische Zertifikate zurückgreifen werden. In den USA dürften auch stark  REDD-Zertifikate zur Anwendung kommen, hieß es.

„In einem Szenario ohne verbindliches globales Klimaabkommen könnte das Angebot an CERs die  Nachfrage unserer Einschätzung nach befriedigen“, sagte Altmeyer. Allerdings dürfte im Falle des Ausbleibens eines entsprechenden Abkommens auch die Anzahl neuer CDM-Projekte zurückgehen.
Für den Fall einer Einigung rechnet First Climate hingegen mit einem jährlichen Zuwachs beim CER-Angebot von rund 5%.


Source: Dow Jones TradeNews Emissions, 19 February 2010, No. 4]]> Press Clipping Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:11:00 +0100 http://www.firstclimate.com/en/press-events/news-details/article/2010/02/16/first-climate-in-environmental-finance-winners-announced-in-voluntary-carbon-markets-survey-kopie.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=30&cHash=d1dffd94bb Der Automobilclub von Deutschland (AvD) hat als erster und bisher einziger Automobilclub in Deutschland seine Flotte CO2-neutral gestellt.
Gemeinsam mit seinem Partner Allianz Versicherungs-AG unterstützt der AvD ein Windenergieprojekt in der Türkei und leistet damit einen Beitrag zum Klimaschutz, der als Ausgleich für die CO2-Emissionen der Fahrzeugflotte in Deutschland angerechnet wird...


The full article is available here:

Source: http://www.transporter-news.de/nachrichten.php?newsid=51543]]> Press Clipping Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:11:00 +0100 http://www.firstclimate.com/en/press-events/news-details/article/2010/02/11/first-climate-in-carbon-finance-mixed-welcome-for-copenhagen-accord-emission-reduction-targets-ko.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=30&cHash=63447621b4 First Climate took most votes for Best Advisory
US investment bank JP Morgan has won three out of eight categories in Environmental Finance’s survey of the voluntary carbon markets.

The bank and its recent acquisitions, EcoSecurities and ClimateCare, were voted respectively Best Trading Company, Best Project Developer and Best Offset Retailer by the readers of Environmental Finance magazine.

The Best Broker category in the survey, conducted in December, was won by Evolution Markets, with Baker & McKenzie voted Best Law Firm and Markit Best Registry Provider. TÜV SÜD was voted Best Verification Company, while German carbon asset manager First Climate took most votes for Best Advisory.

More than 500 votes were received in the survey which was, for the first time this year, conducted separately from Environmental Finance and Carbon Finance’s annual market survey, which polls readers on mandatory carbon markets, renewable energy finance, weather risk management, and sulphur and nitrogen oxides allowance markets. Those results were announced in December.

Environmental Finance defines ‘voluntary carbon’ as carbon credits bought or sold to help organisations or individuals offset carbon emissions where they are not required by regulation to do so. This may be to help meet self-imposed emissions goals, or to gain experience ahead of carbon regulations – an important part of the voluntary carbon market in the US.

“JP Morgan has certainly built a strong franchise in the voluntary carbon space with its acquisitions of ClimateCare in 2008 and, last November, of EcoSecurities,” said Mark Nicholls, editor of Environmental Finance magazine. “But the real question is whether it can turn this investment into a strong position in the much larger, and much more lucrative, mandatory markets.”

The results are published in the February 2010 issue of Environmental Finance.


Source: http://www.environmental-finance.com/onlinews/0211win.html]]> Press Clipping Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:11:00 +0100 http://www.firstclimate.com/en/press-events/news-details/article/2010/02/10/first-climate-in-carbon-finance-mixed-welcome-for-copenhagen-accord-emission-reduction-targets.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=30&cHash=983fd7b82b More than 91 countries had submitted emissions reduction pledges to the Copenhagen Accord by 5 February, exceeding expectations and helping to maintain some momentum in the UN climate process after...
But analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) shows that the pledges would deliver only half of the emissions reductions against business-as-usual required to give the world a fighting chance of avoiding temperature rises above 2°C. And carbon market participants warn that the continuing lack of a roadmap to forge a legally binding climate agreement jeopardises the establishment of a global carbon market.

“The Copenhagen Accord pledges are relatively unchanged from those made prior to the Copenhagen summit,” said Leo Johnson, a London-based partner in PwC’s sustainability and climate change practice. “At 9.7 Gt of carbon dioxide equivalent [CO₂e], the pledges total just under half the 20 Gt CO₂e reduction required from business as usual to stay on the low-carbon pathway.”

The accord – drafted in the closing hours of December’s UN climate change negotiations in the Danish capital – was merely “noted” by the conference, with only a small number of countries voicing their support for it at the time. This left it “in a kind of limbo-land”, according to law firm Norton Rose.

“We’re definitely in a no-man’s land,” said Geoff Sinclair, the London-based head of emissions sales and trading at Standard Bank. “The outcome of Copenhagen – if there was one – is that people in the market are going to look a lot more towards national and regional [emissions trading] schemes.”

However, this could provide the opportunity for more national trading programmes. “The proof of the overall success of the Copenhagen Accord is going to be the adoption of domestic measures and actions,” said Abyd Karmali, president of the Carbon Markets and Investors Association.

The accord has been described by some commentators as following a voluntary, bottom-up ‘pledge and review’ approach. One of the few changes to pledged cuts or limitation plans – from countries accounting for 80.5% of global emissions – is from Canada, which has changed its target to match that of the US, for a 17% cut against 2005 levels by 2020 – in effect, allowing the country’s greenhouse gases to grow by 3% compared with 1990 emissions. Under the Kyoto Protocol, Canada committed to cut its emissions to 6% below 1990 levels by 2012, a target since abandoned by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

“It’s quite disappointing that the Copenhagen Accord refers to the 2°C threshold at the end of the century and the major developed countries haven’t stepped up their efforts,” said Martin Kaiser, Germany-based international climate policy coordinator for NGO Greenpeace, adding that the current proposals will only restrict the global increase in temperatures to 3–4°C.

However, Alina Averchenkova, senior policy analyst at German carbon asset manager First Climate, said she was pleased that all the major emitters have signed up to the accord: “Of course, there is some debate about the legal status of the document, but it does have the support of the major countries and can be used to guide the negotiations to Mexico.”

She added that some of the developing country proposals and support for the accord could allow some issues left unresolved at December’s summit in Copenhagen to be closed, such as the need for national actions to be measured, reported and verified. And having pledges from both developed and developing countries could break the deadlock in the climate talks and allow a new text to be negotiated – under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – at this year’s talks in Mexico.

“Many of the G77 countries have indicated that that’s the desired approach,” Averchenkova said.
The breakdown in the negotiations and the fact that the accord was the result of talks between a select group of leaders has cast doubt on the future of the UN negotiating process, said observers.

“That multilateral process has become increasingly unworkable,” said Sinclair at Standard Bank. “From an investors’ point of view and when you have money on the table, you need to look more at the regions and bilateral agreements.”

Also disappointing for many was the conference’s failure to adopt a text agreed under the convention negotiations that would have created a market mechanism to credit reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD), which fell victim to the wider breakdown in negotiations. “Somewhere in a cupboard at the UNFCCC is a REDD paper that the private sector thinks is ok,” said Christian del Valle, director of environmental markets at BNP Paribas in London.

The accord does, however, call for the “immediate establishment” of a REDD+ mechanism, which del Valle thinks will lead to “a lot of closed-door negotiations” in the coming months.


Source: www.carbon-financeonline.com]]> Press Clipping Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:03:00 +0100 http://www.firstclimate.com/en/press-events/news-details/article/2010/02/03/first-climate-in-carbon-finance-mixed-welcome-for-copenhagen-accord-pledges.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=30&cHash=c0b34ea520 Carbon market participants have given a mixed reception to the proposed emissions cuts and mitigation actions pledged under the Copenhagen Accord. By the 31 January deadline, 55 countries accounting for 78% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions had notified the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat of their reduction targets or mitigation plans. NGO US Climate Action Network last night said this had risen to 87 countries, representing just over 80% of global emissions.

Most of the pledged cuts or limitation plans are little changed from those announced pre-Copenhagen. The one notable exception is Canada, which has changed its target to match that of the US, for a 17% cut on 2005 levels by 2020 – in effect, allowing the country’s GHGs to grow by 3% compared with 1990 emissions. Under the Kyoto Protocol, Canada committed to cut its emissions to 6% below 1990 levels by 2012, a target since abandoned by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

“It’s quite disappointing that the Copenhagen Accord refers to the 2°C threshold at the end of the century and the major developed countries haven’t stepped up their efforts,” said Martin Kaiser, Germany-based international climate policy coordinator for NGO Greenpeace, adding that the current proposals will only restrict the global increase in temperatures to 3-4°C.

Antony Froggatt, a senior research fellow at think-tank Chatham House in London, noted that the targets are at “the lower end of domestic commitments” and it is difficult to see how the international negotiations will pan out. “It’s not very clear how it will proceed in the next few months, and what the ambition is,” he added, particularly as the accord makes no reference to the legally binding agreement that was the goal of the Copenhagen talks.

However, German carbon asset manager First Climate’s senior policy analyst Alina Averchenkova said: “Personally, I’m quite pleased that most of the major emitters have supported the accord ... Of course, there is some debate about the legal status of the document, but it does have the support of the major countries and can be used to guide the negotiations to Mexico.”

She added that some of the developing country proposals and support for the accord could allow some issues left unresolved at December’s summit in Copenhagen to be closed now, such as the need for national actions to be measured, reported and verified. And having pledges from both developed and developing countries could break the deadlock in the climate talks and allow a new text to be negotiated – under the UNFCCC – at this year’s talks in Mexico.

“Many of the G77 countries have indicated that that’s the desired approach,” Averchenkova said.

Froggatt suggested one way to move things forward would be to mobilise the promised $30 billion in fast-track financing for mitigation and adaptation efforts between 2010 and 2012 in countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change – such as small island states. This financing “is agreed and is designed to be relatively quick, and moves the Copenhagen Accord details forward”, he said. However, he also acknowledged that there remain some questions about where the money will come from and what types of projects it will support.


Source: www.carbon-financeonline.com]]> Press Clipping Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:03:00 +0100 http://www.firstclimate.com/en/press-events/news-details/article/2010/02/01/first-climate-in-the-namibian-ex-footballers-come-to-nam-kopie-1.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=30&cHash=642d5bb2df The Copenhagen UN climate change meeting lived up to many people's expectations by failing to agree a new deal for the post-2012 world, so what happens next? asks Robin Lancaster
The latest in a long list of deadlines on the rocky road to try and agree a post-2012 global climate change regime is 31 January. By that date, industrialised and developing countries backing December's Copenhagen accord (see box, page 14) are supposed to have added teeth to the document's blank appendices by making individual pledges to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. But with that the accord not adopted by the UN - countries party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) only "took note" of it in Copenhagen - its future and that of the UN climate change process, as well as the role of carbon markets, are under intense scrutiny.

...


Source: Trading Carbon, Vol. 4, Issue 01, February 2010, pp. 12-15]]> Press Clipping Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:11:00 +0100 http://www.firstclimate.com/en/press-events/news-details/article/2010/02/01/first-climate-in-energie-management-klimaschutz-im-heizkeller.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=30&cHash=3b67c838c3 Nach Ökostrom wollen die Verbraucher nun auch entsprechende Angebote beim Gas. Klimaneutrales Gas ist eine Lösung.
Die Städtischen Werke Kassel haben zum 1. Januar ihre Gaslieferungen an Tarifkunden im eigenen Netz ohne Aufpreis völlig auf CO2-neutrales Erdgas umgestellt. Insgesamt 250 000 t CO2, die jedes Jahr durch die Verwendung von Erdgas in Kassel emittiert werden, müssen dafür neutralisiert werden.

Dazu unterstützen die Nordhessen Klimaprojekte, die CO2-Emissionen anderswo binden oder vermeiden. Zentrales Kriterium: Die Emissionsminderung erfolgt garantiert zusätzlich und würde ohne das Geld für die Emissionsminderungszertifikate aus Kassel nicht umgesetzt werden. Die unterstützten Projekte in Brasilien, China, Indien, der Türkei und Deutschland (Grubengasnutzung) sind zertifiziert und damit als seriös ausgewiesen.

...


Source: Energie & Management, 1 February 2010]]> Press Clipping Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:40:00 +0100 http://www.firstclimate.com/en/press-events/news-details/article/2010/01/29/first-climate-in-carbon-finance-carbon-fund-managers-upbeat-on-2010-kopie-1.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=30&cHash=cdf484edb0 Ohne eine intakte Natur und entsprechende Schutzmassnahmen zum Erhalt der klimatischen Verhältnisse könnte White Turf nicht durchgeführt werden.
Die einmalige Umgebung der Engadiner Bergwelt und der zugefrorene See sind die Basis der Internationalen Pferderennen.

"In der Vorbereitung zu den diesjährigen Rennen haben wir vor allem der Umsetzung neuer Umweltschutzmassnahmen auf dem See ganz besondere Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt“, erklärt Ruedi Fopp, Präsident und CEO White Turf. Mit sichtbarem Erfolg: Dank neu entwickelter Heizmethoden für die Zeltstadt lässt sich der bisherige Energieverbrauch reduzieren. Zusätzlich wird der See in diesem Jahr nicht mehr durch parkende Autos und deren Emissionen belastet. In Zusammenarbeit mit der Gemeinde St. Moritz sind auf einem Teil der Polowiese und an der Olympiaschanze neue Parkmöglichkeiten und ein Shuttledienst eingerichtet worden.


The full article is available here:

http://www.turfcast.net/index.php/news/white-turf-wird-umweltfreundlich/]]> Press Clipping Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:03:00 +0100 http://www.firstclimate.com/en/press-events/news-details/article/2010/01/27/first-climate-in-carbon-finance-project-developers-slam-disappointing-copenhagen-accord-kopie-1.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=30&cHash=c5ac705b78 Carbon fund managers are cautiously optimistic about prospects for the market this year, despite the failure of last month’s UN climate talks in Copenhagen to shed any light on the post-2012 market. “It’s the first time, after several months, that we have put new capital-raising efforts on the agenda,” Markus Hüwener, CEO of German carbon asset managers First Climate, told Carbon Finance.

But Hüwener said that to attract investors, fund managers would need to change their focus. “I think the old approach of raising pure yield-oriented carbon funds is over,” he said. “What we’re doing is mixing the carbon component with equity investments.” This, Hüwener said, allows the funds to capture proceeds from alternative revenue streams, such as power sales from renewable energy carbon projects.

“A lot of projects lost their financing in 2009, and they need the equity part to get things going,” he said.

London-based asset manager Climate Change Capital has followed this approach of equity investment in carbon projects for its €750 million ($1.1 billion) carbon fund – the largest fund in the market. But following the close of its investment period at the end of 2009, CEO Shaun Mays said the company was mulling alternative ways to invest in carbon-reduction projects.

“We will be looking to deploy capital going forward, but it may not be in the form of a fund. Having been in that market for so long, we’ve got a really strong pipeline of projects that cover the whole spectrum of renewable energy, energy efficiency, etc,” he told Carbon Finance this week.

“While carbon credits attach to those, the underlying projects themselves are valuable. We are looking at what are we doing with those, from a carbon point of view, and an underlying point of view.”

Hüwener said that failure to reach an international climate deal for after 2012 in Copenhagen does not alter any plans now, as the EU has indicated that credits from projects registered before the end of 2012 will be eligible for use in Phase III of its emissions trading scheme, which runs 2013-20.

“There is a good demand for pure compliance funds,” he said, adding that the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) €125 million Post 2012 Carbon Credit Fund, which his company advises, expects to be fully invested in the first half of this year.

“We have an advanced pipeline in relation to Kyoto credits, and are therefore not so much affected by the post-2012 discussion,” said the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) Jan-Willem van de Ven, head of the secretariat for the EBRD-EIB sponsored €190 million Multilateral Carbon Credit Fund (MCCF). “Any outlook however may help to keep sponsors interested in this market.”

Reforms to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) agreed in the Danish capital last month should also help the sector. Tomas Otterström, Helsinki-based deputy CEO of asset management firm GreenStream Network, said he was “hopeful” about improvements to the CDM. However, he added that while “there are some good signs” in Copenhagen about reforms, they didn’t go far enough.

“It’s high time to simplify CDM modalities for small projects and their implementation,” Otterström said. “However, this won’t solve the problems, and the Kyoto period ends pretty soon.” He noted that delays in the registration process have grown substantially, and that, as of 2008, some 60% of CDM projects having started validation were expected to be registered, down from around 90% in 2005.

But Otterström was positive on the prospects for 2010. “This year is the year that Kyoto carbon acquisition vehicles should be able to get their contracts into place,” he said. “An advantage of our funds is that we are able to contract both Kyoto and post-2012 credits.” GreenStream is also looking into bringing innovative carbon investment vehicles to the market, he said without elaborating.

Of more concern is the fate of Joint Implementation (JI) projects, with van de Ven noting that such projects have “a finite life” at this point. He said that the MCCF – which had ringfenced €40 million of its capital for Assigned Amount Unit purchases underpinned by Green Investment Schemes (GISs) – is looking at “more structured approaches”, such as more GISs. The fate of JI in Russia remains to be seen, with van de Ven saying: “Everyone is hopeful, but the proof will be in the pudding, and the eating of it.”


Source: www.carbon-financeonline.com]]> Press Clipping Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:03:00 +0100 http://www.firstclimate.com/en/press-events/news-details/article/2010/01/22/first-climate-in-reuters-climate-bill-setback-forces-clean-development-rethink.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=30&cHash=377055baa8 Still reeling from disappointing UN climate talks in Copenhagen in December, clean energy project developers were dealt another blow this week when U.S. Democrats lost their Senate supermajority,...
Although the passage of a U.S. bill to cap greenhouse gas emissions in 2010 was far from certain, the election of a Republican in Massachusetts to the Senate on Tuesday derailed any momentum President Obama had following his healthcare push toward introducing a cap-and-trade scheme this year.

This, coupled with a disappointing UN climate summit in the Danish capital last month where leaders from over 190 countries failed to agree a legally-binding pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, is causing concern for some clean energy project developers and forcing them to reassess their game plan.

"I'm not as bullish as I was a year ago," said Sascha Lafeld, an executive board member at First Climate AG. "The U.S. pre-compliance market is cautiously developing, so our strategy is also one of caution ... We're on hold, we'll keep our two U.S. offices open but we're not expanding this year."


The full article is available here:

Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE60L4DE20100122]]> Press Clipping Fri, 22 Jan 2010 10:03:00 +0100 http://www.firstclimate.com/en/press-events/news-details/article/2010/01/20/first-climate-in-baulinksde-baunachrichten-schiefergruben-magog-klimaneutrales-unternehmen-bis-2.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=30&cHash=afbdbbc29f Emissions reduction project developers have criticised the Copenhagen Accord for failing to provide clarity on the future shape of the carbon market – but remain optimistic that there will be demand...
“The outcome was less concrete than hoped for,” said Niels von Zweigbergk, CEO of Stockholm-based developer Tricorona.

“The Copenhagen Accord contained some compelling elements ... there is the political will to move things forward, but it did not provide the business community with enough certainty to commit capital,” said EcoSecurities’ CEO Paul Kelly. “That will constrain the willingness of anyone to commit capital in the near future.”

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has been successful in mobilising capital to the developing world, attracting around $6.5 billion of direct investment in 2008 alone according to the World Bank, and more than 2,000 projects have been registered under the mechanism since November 2004.

The accord – endorsed by major emitting countries such as the US, Brazil, the EU and China – does not offer any indication of how a post-2012 carbon market will shape up, merely stating that opportunities to use markets will be pursued. But there is no timetable for when a legally binding agreement should be reached, nor even if there should be such an agreement.

“There’s no way anyone can look at that text and say that’s not a disaster,” said David Metcalfe, London-based director of research company Verdantix. “What would have been really good for project developers would have been a strong, legal founding,” such as a pledge for a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol or to turn the accord into a new treaty. “It could not have been worse.”

In the longer term, First Climate is “disappointed with the lack of clear commitment to having a legally binding treaty in Mexico”, said the German asset manager’s senior policy analyst Alina Averchenkova, referring to this year’s UN talks.

“The future of carbon markets is no clearer than before Copenhagen,” added Gareth Phillips, chief climate change officer at Sindicatum Carbon Capital (SCC). “Although it’s getting harder to do, we will still try to get our target returns back by the end of 2012.”

SCC’s business model includes revenues from power sales and natural gas sales from CDM projects, rather than relying exclusively on the carbon credits.

But Scott McGregor, London-based CEO of Camco, looked on the positive side. “Virtually all parties wanted it [the CDM] to continue. No one was saying the CDM shouldn’t continue post-2012.” But he also acknowledged that the form of the CDM from 2013 is unclear.

“I believe there will be post-2012 CDM, but I believe there will be lots of other mechanisms in different countries,” McGregor said.

Averchenkova agreed, saying: “We still believe in the carbon market, and the decisions coming out of Copenhagen provide us with enough confidence that market mechanisms are here to stay ... [But] we did not get enough clarity out of Copenhagen to reduce the risk.”

However, Phillips said that parties, such as the EU, “need to be pragmatic about what they want”. For example, the EU has expressed a desire to accept credits from sectoral mechanisms from 2015, but as yet there is no definition of such a mechanism, he said.

Tricorona’s von Zweigbergk said that there is a risk that a global carbon market will not materialise and instead there will be a patchwork of regional and national trading programmes, such as those in the EU, Australia and the US, that may accept CDM credits.

Metcalfe from Verdantix said that Copenhagen “really signalled the end of the UN as the primary negotiating forum” and that he doesn’t expect any “substantial climate policy” to be agreed in that forum in the next five years. “It’s really going to be national carbon markets, or regional like the EU,” he added.

McGregor was optimistic on future prospects. “There’s no dispute that every country in the world has policy initiatives in place to reduce emissions,” the Camco chief said. “There’s no doubt, over the next 10, 20, 30 years that there will be a massive amount of emission reductions in lots of countries.”

EcoSecurities’ Kelly said that the US is the “overhang on the global market”, and that he was not overly optimistic that the necessary legislation to establish a federal cap-and-trade regime would be passed this year. For project developers, he said the key thing this year would be to focus on monetising existing carbon credit portfolios “and watch the bottom line”. However, the company will continue to explore options for the post-2012 period, he added.


Source: www.carbon-financeonline.com]]> Press Clipping Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:03:00 +0100