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Automakers Not Meeting Disclosure Agreement in Europe

Companies selling autos in the European Union are not disclosing carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction commitments or strategies to comply with a 7 year-old European Union agreement, according an analysis released by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Sustainable Asset Management (SAM) Group. “It is unacceptable that, with only three years left to comply with the ACEA Agreement, auto companies have done little to disclose in their annual reports to investors how they plan to meet this voluntary target,” said WRI’s Amanda Sauer, lead author of Transparency Issues with the ACEA Agreement:Are Investors Driving Blindly? “The problem with the ACEA Agreement is that nobody knows what the auto companies are planning to do to bring the industry to its 2008 target.” BMW has disclosed more of its CO2-reduction strategies than the other car companies analyzed, although it could be at risk of substantial future costs under the agreement because it appears to have the highest fleet-wide CO2 emissions in the industry. Yet the report finds that without disclosure on company commitments to meet the agreement, it is impossible to know the cost exposure for BMW or any other company, even though these costs could be significant. The ACEA Agreement establishes […]

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Senate Votes For Arctic Refuge Oil Drilling

Yesterday, in a 51-49 vote, the U.S. Senate paved the way to allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The U.S. Senate voted against an amendment to strip ANWR instructions from the Senate Budget Resolution. While Bush administration officials hailed the vote, Democrats lashed out at Republicans for getting the vote in through the back door – attaching it to the budget resolution, where fewer votes are needed. NGO’s, who have been working feverishly to bring the few swing votes needed in their favor, said this is only the beginning of the fight. There is a long way to go before the Refuge is opened for oil drilling. Chairman Domenici (NM), long in favor of opening ANWR said: The Senate today affirmed its deep concern for our consumers and our economy. We signaled our concern over dropping fuel inventories, record high energy prices and global uncertainty. We signaled our faith in American ingenuity and technology and we voted our conviction that America must do more to meet its own energy needs. I have argued for months that now is the time to develop ANWR. I congratulate my colleagues on their conviction and their deep commitment to our […]

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Cleantech Investment Rises for 2004

According the Cleantech Venture Network, overall cleantech investment in 2004 totalled $1.209 billion, up 3.4% from the $1.169 billion recorded in 2003 and up 11.4% from the 2002 total of $1.085 billion. $3.464 billion of investment has entered the cleantech space since 2002. Additionally, in Q4 2004 investment into clean technology companies increased for the 3rd straight quarter to $314.3 million, up from $311.6 million in Q3. The Q4 total is the largest in three years. In 2004, cleantech investment captured 5.8% of the $20.9 billion of venture capital invested across all industries. Furthermore, in Q4 2004 Cleantech captured more than 6% of the $5.279 billion invested in North America overall, up significantly from 4.7% in the previous quarter. Cleantech now ranks 7th in size as an industry segment behind Software, Biotechnology, Telecommunications, Medical Devices and Equipment, Semiconductors and Networking Equipment. For the second consecutive quarter cleantech investment leaders RockPort Capital and EnerTech Capital were among the most active investors in Q4. They were joined by SAM Sustainable Asset Management with each firm participating in three cleantech financings, as 10 firms participated in multiple cleantech financings in Q4. In total there were 94 unique investors participating in a cleantech investment […]

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