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SINGAPORE (MarketWatch) -- Merrill Lynch & Co. (MER) has secured a foothold in the carbon trading and emissions reductions market in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Financial Times reported on its Web site. .... RCF invests in projects such as mending leaking gas distribution pipelines, to reduce emissions, the FT said. Such projects are awarded a credit for each ton of carbon dioxide saved under the Kyoto treaty. These credits, known as emission reduction units, can be sold to other Kyoto signatories that need to reduce their emissions under the agreement.

But if you have carbon markets, why do you need subsidies? Living in a carbon constrained world looks inevitable. Congress will be voting on a number of proposals to set limits on the emission of greenhouse gases later this year. So industrialists see the policy handwriting on the wall and are now rushing to help shape the emerging greenhouse gas (GHG)emissions regulatory scheme. In January the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, consisting of 10 big companies including DuPont, Alcoa, General Electric and Duke Energy, issued a "blueprint for a mandatory economy-wide, market-driven approach to climate protection." Also in January, the Electric...

A leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination declared the debate on global warming "over" yesterday and said that the US would act to save the environment. Senator John McCain's speech at a summit on green policies indicated a crucial change in US political opinion towards climate change. "I am convinced that we have reached the tipping point and that the Congress of the United States will act with the agreement of the administration," said Mr McCain, who is a favoured candidate in next year's presidential primaries. "The debate is over, my friends. Now the question is: what do we...

SYDNEY (AFP) - A worldwide system to put a price on harmful gas emissions should be a key part of any plan to combat global warming, but should not come at Australia's expense, Prime Minister John Howard has said. "Market mechanisms, including carbon pricing, will be integral to any long-term response to climate change," Howard said during his weekly radio address on Sunday. But the prime minister, whose government has refused to adopt the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide which are believed responsible for global warming, said Australian industry had to be protected. "All of...

Hollywood actors such as Orlando Bloom and bands such as Coldplay and Scissor Sisters are helping to front an audacious plan to step up the fight against global warming by kick-starting the market for carbon trading. The scheme aims to buy and retire "carbon credits" to push up the price of CO2. Reducing supply by refusing to re-sell carbon credits should increase the price and financially penalise companies which fail to meet their targets. It will be launched simultaneously in London and Los Angeles tomorrow by the Global Cool Foundation, the brainchild of music promoter-turned green campaigner Dan Morrell and...

NEW YORK - Maybe it's the weird winter weather, or the newly Democratic Congress. Maybe it's the news reports about starving polar bears, or the Oscar nomination for Al Gore's global warming cri de coeur, "An Inconvenient Truth." Whatever the reason, years of resistance to the reality of climate change are suddenly melting away like the soon-to-be-history snows of Kilimanjaro. Now even George W. Bush says it's a problem. For years, the president and his supporters argued that not enough was known about global warming to do anything about it. But during last week's State of the Union address Bush...

WASHINGTON - Chief executives of 10 major corporations urged Congress on Monday to require limits on greenhouse gases this year, contending voluntary efforts to combat climate change are inadequate. The call for immediate action came on the eve of President Bush's State of the Union address in which he is expected to reiterate that the industry on its own is making progress in curtailing the growth of heat-trapping emissions without the need of government intervention. But the executives and leaders of four major environmental organizations said in a letter to Bush that mandatory emissions caps are needed to reduce the...

China is turning its environmental problems into a shrewdly managed financial asset, capitalizing on corporate and governmental efforts to curb global warming. How much China's actions will do for the atmosphere remains an open question. Concerns about the world's rising temperature have prompted many industrialized countries to cap the amount of carbon dioxide and other global-warming gases companies can emit. One way companies can comply is by bankrolling emission-cutting projects in the developing world, where such projects often are cheaper than back home. In return, the Western companies receive "carbon credits" that essentially allow them to continue to emit greenhouse...

Outgoing Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s (R) administration is recommending in a draft “white paper” that the state begin implementing carbon constraints in the near future, setting the stage for major policy battles over climate change emissions in a key regional and presidential-election battleground state. Observers say action by Florida to address carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions could eventually help advance the issue throughout the country because of the state’s profile in national politics, its large congressional delegation, and its growing Republican majority. It is becoming even more of a “red” state, which would “buck the traditional wisdom” that red states spurn...

California and Manitoba on Thursday pledged to work cooperatively to advance greenhouse gas emission reductions, particularly in the areas of clean energy, sustainable transportation and sustainable agriculture. “This agreement with Manitoba, along with California's other agreements with the United Kingdom, Northeast states and others will address an issue that our federal government has yet to tackle," says Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger As part of the five-year agreement signed by Mr. Schwarzenegger and Manitoba Premier Gary Doer, Manitoba intends take steps to continue to support greenhouse gas reduction goals and to enable credit-trading opportunities, particularly for sustainable on-farm practices. Initial work will...

SACRAMENTO – Like gold and pork bellies, California's carbon dioxide emissions credits may someday emerge as the big thing on commodity markets. Brokers who specialize in the art of the deal are closely following developments here as California steers toward a controversial, yet common, market-based course to reduce pollution many scientists link to global warming. Under the proposal, California would reward low-polluting companies with emissions credits that they can then sell on an open market to industries that cannot readily curb greenhouse gas discharges. Companies are already forming a line, said Josh Margolis, a manager with Cantor Fitzgerald Brokerage. “We...

America's greenest governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, announced on Oct. 16 that he was planning to set up an emissions-trading scheme between California and other states to try to curb the output of greenhouse gases. Given the complexity of designing and operating such schemes, it is fortunate for Schwarzenegger that Europe already has one up and running; for it offers valuable lessons in what not to do. Europe's Emissions-Trading Scheme (ETS) was one of the few substantial developments to emerge from the wreckage of the Kyoto Protocol. Its purpose was threefold: to cut emissions; to get polluters to pay for the damage...

SACRAMENTO Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will announce an executive order Monday in New York that joins California's landmark global warming law with the Northeast's program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The executive order is the first step in creating a system that helps California's biggest manufacturers to comply with stricter environmental regulations, a Schwarzenegger administration official said. Industrial corporations and utility companies must cut their greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 25 percent by 2020. "Gov. Schwarzenegger wants to build a large, robust carbon trading market that will dramatically reduce emissions," said Schwarzenegger communications director Adam Mendelson. "The more robust the market,...

Wall Street Journal Finds Kyoto-Inspired Carbon Trading Hikes Electric Bills for German Consumers Report contrasts with CBS's earlier cheerleading for a similar plan in California. The Kyoto Protocol’s costs are coming as a shock to many German businesses and consumers. They’re finding higher utility costs resulting from their government’s implementation of the climate change treaty, The Wall Street Journal reported on September 11. Reporter Jeffrey Ball noted that in Germany, Kyoto-inspired rules “have upset the business status quo” as they have ended up “creating winners and losers. The winners include utilities that can charge higher rates and profit from trading...