(March 2005)  Previous Bulletin                            (page précédente - previous page)

ENVIRONMENT &  FINANCIAL MARKETS:  Ethical index reshuffling ; CO2 taking off ; banking & forestry
***The FTSE4Good ethical index primed itself to become yet more selective on criteria and more inclusive on sectors (possibly taking on board the nuclear, tobacco and arms/defence activities). Click to the FTSE site to read the document announcing the  public consultation.
*** Tangible funding for the analysis of extra-financial issues : the Enhanced Analytics Initiative (EAI) is a group of institutional investors and fund managers with assets under management totalling 380.5 billion Euros (end Feb. 2005) They have decided to allocate individually a minimum of 5% of their respective brokerage commission to sell-side researchers who are effective at analysing material extra-financial issues and intangibles.
***Disagreement on financial matters ahead of the EDF privatisation planned later this year? The French Government Accounting Office issued a report (which includes answers from all concerned) on the dismantling of nuclear reactors -they produce 75% of French electricity - and atomic waste management. The Office thinks that EDF has not provisioned enough, whilst the latter replies that it is progressively doing it. Will IFRS bring additional complexity to the topic?  
***CO2 market : Media coverage, cold weather and restrictions over quota allocations all stimulated demand. Between the 11th and the 28th of February Nordpool, the 1st operational market place (others are following, and many trades are over the counter)  registered a climb in price from 7.15 to 9.55 Euros per CO2 ton, on the contract for delivery December 2005.
***Banking & forestry : Citigroup's CEO Chuck Prince said that a specific client, a Malaysian logging giant accused of human rights abuses and illegal logging activities, must comply with a set of new environmental policies adopted by the bank last year (after much pressure by NGOs). Citigroup will require the client to obtain credible third-party certification - comments specified the Forest Stewardship Council program by name - for its Papua New Guinea operations.

MACRO-ECONOMICS :  Year 1 for the Kyoto Protocol ; the US Budget
***If you were travelling around Saturn, you might not know that the Kyoto Protocol came into force last month... otherwise since there was plenty of media coverage we will not comment much more. However, apart from the "detail" of having to comply with the Protocol (some countries have overblown their quotas), it is now on post-2012 that emitting countries (old and emerging) have to agree, for a balanced, lean development. Barring some geopolitical upheaval, it is unlikely that Montreal will achieve more than Buenos Aires last year : in spite of Blair's efforts at next summer's G8 summit, the Bush administration will prefer to wait until the second half of its mandate to move the subject forward, with perhaps more technological tools to promote then.
*** The Budget submitted by President Bush included some incentives for fuel cell (FC) vehicles : page 289 of this taxing document (at 449 pages, literally and metaphorically) proposes a tax credit of 8,000 dollars ! To our knowledge, at present only one manufacturer offers this type of vehicle for sale (from 40,000 to 100,000 dollars), but maybe this will stimulate others.

MICRO-ECONOMICS : products ready to make waves...   
***Wave power : EPRI (Electrical Power Research Institute) published a positive feasability report (including from an economic standpoint) on harnessing the energy from waves along various American shorelines. The field is still in its infancy, but the potential of waves and tides is attracting more and more researchers and scientists. Besides these solutions, contrary to wind power, are mostly out of sight... from the surface!
The EU has also been investigating this potential energy source for several years, even though the institutional European website on the subject seems less active recently.
***Gases blowing... One week CO2 was hogging the limelight with Kyoto coming into force, the following week it was hydrogen! After initiatives announced earlier in California and Florida, German company Linde proposed a highway network of about 1800 km linking Berlin, Leipzig, Munich, Stuttgart and Cologne, major centers of development as well as most German automobile production sites. According to Linde, for an investment of around 30 million Euros hydrogen filling pumps would be installed on average about every 50 km, mainly at existing service stations (Munich and Berlin already operate hydrogen filling stations).

To be continued...      Thank you for your support & interest.