Green finance special focus

The new colour of money
Global warming is the biggest issue facing society. Markets can play a crucial role in combating climate change. Banks see a huge opportunity to be agents for good – and make plenty of money in the process. How big can green finance become?
  Environmentalists at the gates
  Caring, not sharing
  Eco-magine all the people 

 Al Gore interview: “Markets are the key to climate change”

Al Gore, the former vice-president of the US, is the most high-profile figure in the fight to force action to combat global warming. In an interview with Euromoney’s editor, Clive Horwood, he explains why a new approach to investment is needed and discusses his own hands-on experience, adopts an unusual position in the carbon tax versus cap-and-trade debate, and says banks are generally ahead of the game – but still have a lot more to do.

 Carbon markets: Hot times for emissions trading
Banks have come to realize that to make money from emissions trading markets they would do well to tie up with the consultants that understand the technicalities and with the corporates that own Clean Development Mechanism schemes. 

Green finance:
Cleaning up in China

Baffled at first by the unwonted benevolence of the clean development mechanism, Chinese enterprises rapidly jumped on the carbon trading bandwagon. There have been instances where companies have metaphorically as much as literally cleaned up – either way the net effect is beneficial to the environment. 
   Can restriction talk be more than hot air?

Opinion: A bet on climate
Harnessing market forces for innovation will create technology options, and a more stable climate, for future generations, argues Jon Anda, president of the Environmental Markets Network at Environmental Defense.

Hedge funds: Man’s green stand starts to pay off
Man is the world’s largest hedge fund group, with more than $65 billion in assets. It also claims to be the greenest hedge fund. CEO Peter Clarke tells Helen Avery how alternative investment firms can offer the returns investors want and play a positive role in preventing climate change.

Hedge funds: Green trimmings 
A growing social conscience about the environment has opened up new technologies and markets that offer hedge funds new areas in which to find alpha. But it is still a nascent area and the number of players is small. Helen Avery interviews four managers to see how they are approaching the emerging asset class. 
   Impax Asset Management: Shorting the non-environmentalists
   Climate Change Capital: Towards a carbon hedge fund
   Clean Energy Asset Management: Focusing on renewable energy
   BioFinancial Corp: Creating new markets to trade in

Opinion: Green police help keep climate change action on the fringes
Market forces have the best chance of driving significant actions that will boost climate change. However the forces of resistance are strong – both from entrenched interests and the green movement itself. Charles Dumas of Lombard Street Research argues for the nuclear option.