Companies set up industry group to promote emissions trading

The US energy broker, Natsource, the French bank, Credit Lyonnais, and the consulting group, Arthur Andersen, set up the Emissions Market Development Group (EMDG) on 11 November, enabling it to coincide its first meeting on 16 November with The Hague’s negotiations on the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change. The meeting, with the participation of 30 major energy companies enabled the preparation of a development plan and implementation schedule.

The role of this international carbon repository and allowance trading platform will be to “facilitate inter-changeability between a diversity of greenhouse gas emission reduction products that may be generated under corporate and national initiatives as well as under the Kyoto Protocol mechanisms”, a joint statement said. The repository aims to create a common tradeable unit in the form of a carbon allowance, and would be backed up by a business to business trading platform helping to establish price discovery, clear positions, minimise transaction cost and drive activities in the emerging carbon emissions market, the companies said.