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Climate Change Capital Plans to Raise More Money, Executive Cameron Says |
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-02/climate-change-capital-plans-to-raise-money-for-emissions-cutting-projects.html
Climate Change Capital, a London fund manager that has invested more than $1 billion in greenhouse gas credits, plans to attract additional cash and focus future investments on emissions-reducing projects.
“We are ready to raise money for follow-on funds,” James Cameron, executive vice chairman, said in an interview. “The future is likely to involve more investment in the underlying asset,” and less on credits which trade in the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism, the world’s second-largest carbon market.
Doubts about the future of global carbon markets were compounded after the U.S., the world’s largest emitter, shelved climate legislation on July 28 that would cap emissions and create a market in pollution allowances.
“A lot of this uncertainty makes space for people who have conviction over the longer term that investments in reducing emissions will have value,” said Cameron by telephone on July 29 from New Delhi, where he was visiting as part of a delegation to India with U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron. “We figure it’s a good time to invest actually.”
Cameron declined to give further details on fund-raising plans, citing U.S. regulatory restrictions. Current investors include SNS Reaal NV, the second-largest Dutch life insurer, Universities Superannuation Scheme Ltd., the U.K.’s second- biggest private pension fund, and banks such as Standard Chartered Plc and HSBC Holdings Plc, he said.
Need to Adapt
Cap-and-trade markets aim to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases linked to global warming. Emitters that produce more than their cap buy permits and those releasing less can sell their surpluses to stay below an overall limit.
Their outlook has been shaken by the failure of global talks to agree on caps for nations beyond 2012, as well as delays and oversight problems in the UN system.
“No doubt there’s some pain at the moment,” said Cameron, formerly an attorney at Baker & McKenzie LLP in London. “We’ve had to adapt. It’s extremely difficult to raise money now to deploy directly in carbon market.”
New opportunities may include energy efficiency and solar investments in India, the carbon fund’s biggest investment destination after China, he said. Climate Change Capital is also currently evaluating a hydropower plant in the northern state of Kashmir, he added.
Climate Change Capital’s carbon finance fund has invested more than a billion dollars to date, Cameron said. It also has private equity, property and energy infrastructure funds, according to its website.
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