Negotiators have made progress on key issues in the climate talks, the UN’s climate chief Christiana Figueres claimed last week, while green groups lambasted governments for delaying the talks with procedural squabbles.

Australia’s proposed A$10 billion ($9.8 billion) Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) is likely to prove the “last piece of the puzzle” in financing large-scale renewable energy projects in the short to medium term – but it should avoid crowding out private investment, an investment banker said.

Environmental groups have given a cautious welcome to the decision by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to veto parts of a bill seeking to weaken protection of the Amazon – but warn that the country’s forests remain at risk.

An EU-led programme to verify the performance claims of new environmental technologies could help companies break into new markets – and help investors in their due diligence.

The climate bond market is ready to explode as investors are eager to participate in these transactions, but renewable energy sponsors have preferred to seek financing in the cheaper bank markets, according to a Citigroup official.

Goldman Sachs is to announce a target to make $40 billion of renewable energy investments or financings over the next ten years – implying a lower level of financing by the bank than in the previous six years.

Citigroup is closing in on a securitisation deal for a residential solar rooftop project this year, according to a company official.

Noble Americas Gas & Power has hired an experienced environmental markets broker to develop an environmental products business.

The climate-themed bond market is “broader and deeper” than is commonly believed, according to a report from HSBC, which identifies at least $174 billion in issuance – much higher than earlier estimates.

Issues around access to water have been reframed in the negotiating text that emerged this week for the Rio+20 sustainable development summit, according to a German official.

The Scottish Widows Investment Partnership has called for co-ordinated government policies to reduce fugitive methane emissions from shale gas extraction.

The US government must step in to finance clean energy research and development as the private markets continue to shy away from such investments, experts said.

The UK government has unveiled draft legislation to reform the country’s electricity market to incentivise renewable energy, nuclear power and carbon capture and storage.

Environmental Finance and Carbon Finance are seeking nominations for this year’s awards, including new categories for M&A deal of the year, and wind, solar and biomass financings.

An erstwhile Republican supporter of a federal clean energy standard (CES) has decided not to back a Senate bill establishing such a standard, citing successful efforts at the state level.

The deep transformation required to make society sustainable will only be achieved if governments set policies that unleash the power of business, according to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).

Europe’s largest renewable energy infrastructure fund is only investing in projects that are closest to being viable without government support, according to the fund’s manager.

California legislators will likely be on solid legal ground if they spend the auction revenues from the state’s cap-and-trade programme on energy efficiency projects, renewable energy or the establishment of a Green Bank, rather than on consumer rebates or general fund expenditures, according to a new legal analysis.

A Democratic US senator wants to allow clean energy projects to be financed using tax-advantaged master limited partnerships (MLPs), but has so far had no luck getting a Republican counterpart to sign on.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for the investments made in the 2012-14 phase of its sustainable energy initiative (SEI).