News

• WestLB pledges not to finance Arctic, Antarctic offshore drilling

  20 April 2012

  WestLB will not provide finance to any offshore oil and gas drilling in the Arctic or Antarctic, according to a new environmental policy that is understood to be the first of its kind.

• Superfund extension, EPA enforcement prompting environmental insurance interest

  20 April 2012

  Tougher enforcement of existing environmental regulations and proposed rules targeting new industries could propel purchases of environmental insurance in the US, according to insurance experts.

• Renewables losses confound US utilities

  19 April 2012

  Utilities new to renewable energy generation have been surprised by the frequency of losses at wind and solar projects and, while insurance is available, only a handful of players offer coverage specifically designed for the sector.

• Fund to invest €45m in African carbon credits

  19 April 2012

  French institutions have collaborated with the West Africa Development Bank to launch a fund that will invest in carbon credits from projects that reduce emissions in Africa.

• Phaunos Timber Fund stung by strengthening dollar

  19 April 2012

  Sustainable timber investment company Phaunos Timber Fund reported a $9.6 million loss in 2011, reversing 2010's $20.7 million profit, largely due to paper losses on its foreign currency conversions and revaluation of its assets.

• Ameren shareholders to vote on coal risks

  19 April 2012

  Investors in the US utility Ameren will vote next week on a resolution to reduce its heavy reliance on coal power.

• SAM clean energy fund 'zero exposure' to solar

  19 April 2012

  One of the largest renewable energy listed equity funds has reduced its exposure to solar photovoltaics (PV) to almost zero, as vicious cost-cutting and uncertain demand drives consolidation in the sector.

• Investors call for reform of the EU ETS

  18 April 2012

  The EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) needs to be fixed, according to a group of institutional investors representing €7.5 trillion ($9.8 trillion) in assets.

• CSAPR petitioners quizzed over legal arguments

  17 April 2012

  The parties protesting against the US introducing the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) faced tough questions from a panel of judges last week over whether their arguments were eligible or not.

• AIR models supply chain catastrophe risks

  17 April 2012

  Risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide has launched a product to help risk managers better assess and reduce catastrophe risks from their supply chains.