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Vol. 2, No. 5: March 21, 2007
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The Ecosystem Marketplace's V-Carbon News
Carbon beyond Kyoto... Carbon for the Rest of us
Making A Debut
The wires have been packed with carbon news in recent weeks. Some of the
activity was due to Point Carbon's annual "Carbon Market Insights" conference
from March 13-15 in Denmark. Some 1,600 attendees flooded into the enormous
Bella Center on the outskirts of Copenhagen to swap cards, cement partnerships
and hear the latest information on carbon markets at the event. What was
the buzz? Some of it, according to Point Carbon's director, was about future
carbon
markets in the U.S. and the current global voluntary carbon market. The
project-based side of the carbon market, it seems, is a wider world than
many previously
imagined, see "Voluntary Carbon Makes a Debut in Denmark" below for our first-hand
coverage of these markets at the conference.
Beyond that, the corridors were abuzz with
speculation about whether one of the large publicly traded carbon companies
listed on
the London exchange (our lips are sealed) would be bought out, and if so,
by whom? Conference attendees also had their ears open for any insights
into what would happen with the Kyoto markets post-2012. In this regard,
a deal
was announced at the conference where post-2012 carbon changed hands (the
first transaction of its kind). Former US Vice President, Al Gore, who
presented the keynote at the conference also made reference to this timetable,
although
he suggested that it should be pushed forward and that we should be talking
about 2010, not 2012. Discussions afterwards seemed to indicate that this
may be a bit too ambitious. Instead, many of the private sector players
had their eyes in the short-term on the "other" Kyoto market: Joint Implementation,
or JI, a mechanism aimed at "economies in transition" (i.e. those of formerly
communist Eastern Europe). The sentiment was that this market would grow
considerably now that the rules have finally been set, and traders and
brokers clearly
thought there was money was to be made "out East".
Outside of Copenhagen, a number of large companies also made grand entrances this month as they announced their respective decisions to join the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX). The agribusiness giant Cargill and the Australian energy giant AGL both have inked agreements with CCX as part of larger strategies to address climate change issues. And now that businesses are moving, investors have turned their attention to politicians. According to a Ceres press release: "For the first time, dozens of institutional investors managing $4 trillion in assets called on U.S. lawmakers to enact strong federal legislation to curb the pollution causing global climate change." The next question, then, is when will national climate legislation debut in the U.S.? According to scientists (see our Science and Technology Update) "soon" had better be the answer if we are to avoid serious water shortages and spreading tropical disease.
—The Ecosystem Marketplace Team
For comments or questions, please email: vcarbonnews@ecosystemmarketplace.com
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VOLUNATRY CARBON
Three more companies join Chicago Climate Exchange
Chicago Climate Exchange Announces protocols for sustainable grazing land management
On March 8, CCX announced "the completion of protocols for earning tradable emission offsets on the basis of carbon sequestration accomplished through sustainable grazing land management in the United States" and welcomed Beartooth Capital Partners LLC as another member of the exchange. Via its "Sun Ranch Sequestration Project" Beartooth will be the Exchanges first aggregator of Rangeland Management Soil Carbon Offsets.
– Read the CCX Press Release (pdf)
Origin Energy Enables Customers to Offset
Australia's Origin Energy, meanwhile, has launched a "carbon reduction scheme" that will allow companies to offset their own carbon footprint, or those of their customers. For example, through this scheme STA Travel will give their customers the chance to offset the environmental effect of air travel.
– Read the Asia Pulse story
CLIMATE NORTH AMERICA
U.S. House of Representatives Has New Climate Change Committee
By a 269 to 150 vote, U.S. representatives decided to set up a new select committee on climate change. Including nine Democrats and six Republicans, the committee will be chaired by Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and will not have the power to write legislation, only to recommend bills and hold hearings. It will also have a limited lifespan of two years.
– Read the AP story
U.S. Emissions of Greenhouse Gases Show No Signs of Slowing
The Bush administration expects U.S. emissions to grow by 11 percent per decade through the middle of the century, according to a new report. And while proponents of U.S. voluntary action point out that the economy is predicted to grow at an even brisker pace, this growth will result in some negative impacts, including drought in the U.S.
– Read the New York Times article
Investors Managing $4 Trillion Call on Congress to Tackle Global Climate Change
A group of major U.S. investors, organized by Ceres and the Investor Network on Climate Risk, outlined the business and economic rationale for climate action and called on U.S. lawmakers to enact strong federal climate change legislation.
– Read the Ceres press release
Alberta introduces Climate Change and Emissions Management Amendment Act
Alberta is now the first province in Canada to introduce legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emission intensity from large industry. Under the Climate Change and Emissions Management Amendment Act, "companies that emit more than 100,000 tons of greenhouse gases a year must reduce their emissions intensity by 12 per cent starting July 1, 2007." It is expected this regulation will apply to about 100 facilities that make up about 70 per cent of Alberta's industrial emissions.
– Read the Government of Alberta Press Release
GLOBAL POLICY UPDATE
British Government Acts on Climate Change
Great Britain announced legally binding plans to cut carbon emissions by 60% by 2050. The draft bill announced by Prime Minister Tony Blair would make the country the undisputed policy leader in the fight against climate change if the proposed legislation is passed into law later this year.
– Read the BBC story
– Read the Economist Story
Costa Rica Aims to Become First Carbon Neutral Nation
Costa Rica recently announced plans to become the first carbon neutral nation in the world. The country will tax tourists and businesses and use the money to offset emissions through conservation and reforestation programs.
– Read Worldwatch Institute article
U.S. Blocks Consensus of G8-plus-Five on Global Warming Issues
Environment ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations and from Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa agreed on several points regarding climate change, but the United States blocked consensus for supporting a carbon trading market.
– Read the Greenwire article
Sparks Fly Over Forestry Credits in New Zealand
A war of words has reached a heated pitch in recent weeks as forest industry and government spokesmen wrangle over the nationalization of carbon credits in New Zealand.
– Read the New Zealand Herald Story
China May Soon Surpass U.S. in Global Warming Pollution
Beijing records and International Energy Agency data show that China's emissions of greenhouse gases are growing at an astonishing rate: reaching 97 percent of U.S. emission by 2006. Given 9.3 percent annual growth in consumption rates of fossil fuels --nine times U.S. growth rates-- China could surpass the U.S. this year as the world leader in emissions. China has set a target for reducing emissions intensity – 20 percent per economic unit lower by 2010 – but, as a developing country, has no mandatory caps under the Kyoto Protocol.
– Read the San Francisco Chronicle story
– Read the China Daily article
CARBON FINANCE
Bank of America Spends $20 Billion on Climate Change
The second largest U.S. bank announced plans to encourage sustainability by lavishing loans on businesses that go green. The bank also says it plans to lay the groundwork to trade carbon emission credits in the United States and elsewhere. Last but not least, BofA plans to spend $1.4 billion making sure that all new buildings achieve LEED certification.
– Read the MarketWatch article
– Read the BofA press release
CO2e and Cantor Environmental Brokerage Join Forces as CantorCO2e
CO2e.com LLC (CO2e), a leading climate change specialist and Cantor Environmental Brokerage, one of the longest serving emissions brokerages in the world, announced that they would be joining forces to create CantorCO2e on March 13.
– Read the press release
Morgan Stanley and RNK Capital Complete First Ever EUA Phase "Three" Trade
Evolution Markets recently announced the completion of the first trade of European Union Allowances for post-2012 delivery. Evolution Markets chief executive Andrew Ertel said: "This trade makes it official: emissions trading is here to stay."
– Read the press release (pdf)
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. to Borrow Money Using Carbon Credits
According to the Nikkei Business Daily, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. plans to finance a Bulgarian wind farm by using the resulting greenhouse gas emission rights as collateral.
– Read the AFX News Limited
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
American Meteorological Society Launches Climate Blog
Worried that your local weatherperson doesn't get climate change? Well now you can put them to the test by participating in the American Meteorological Society's new global warming discussion online. Staffed by experts from a wide range of organizations, the AMS blog aims to assess options for dealing with climate change.
– The AMS Climate Policy blog
Next IPCC Report Spells Out Climate Change Impacts
And they aren't good. From water shortages to spreading tropical diseases, the scientists drafting the report apparently find a lot to fear in a changing climate.
– Read the AP article
Clean Coal Needs Carbon Sequestration
A new report from MIT on the future of coal affirms that it will likely play a large role in meeting the world's increasing energy demands. But in order to prevent runaway climate change, carbon sequestration technologies, which capture carbon dioxide during coal burning and pump it underground for storage, will need to advance quickly.
– Read the Scientific American article
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by Steve Zwick
Four years after a consortium of environmental NGOs set the "Gold Standard" bar for emission reduction projects, Switzerland-based South Pole Carbon Asset Management has cleared the hurdle. The Ecosystem Marketplace discovers how South Pole's founders got where they are, and where they hope to be a year from now.
by Cameron Walker
Charles Ehrhart, the coordinator of CARE International's new Poverty and Climate Change Initiative, wants more people to make the connection between poverty alleviation and the global carbon market. The Ecosystem Marketplace finds out how he is helping them do it.
by Katherine Hamilton
The Ecosystem Marketplace sits down with Jørund Buen of Point Carbon--a provider of news, analysis and consulting services for the power, gas and carbon markets--to hear more about one of the world's largest conferences on carbon markets and Point Carbon's offset purchase announcement.
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