Hopes for global carbon market dim -survey

Reuters, 3 March 2010 - Investors are downbeat about prospects for a global carbon market as uncertainty over policy continues, a survey showed on Wednesday.

Hopes for an emissions trading scheme in the United States by 2015 have dimmed, with 61 percent of respondents confident this will happen, compared with 81 percent last year, the survey by Point Carbon showed. Respondents expect a lower global carbon price of 31 euros ($41.92) a tonne in 2020, down from 35 euros in last year's survey.

"Failure to get a deal at the Copenhagen COP in December and the Obama administration's failure to land a U.S. cap-and-trade programme may have knocked the momentum in carbon markets," said Kjetil Roine, author of the report.

World leaders failed to reach a legally binding climate agreement in December in Copenhagen. The chances of reaching a deal this year are also viewed as slim.

"The survey also confirms that the EU ETS gains in maturity each year and we predict that it will continue to grow both in volume and value this year and next," he added.

Some 43 percent of respondents believe the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is the most cost-efficient mechanism of reducing emissions in the European Union.

The survey was based on 4,767 responses from 118 countries.

(Reporting by Nina Chestney; Editing by William Hardy)

Author Nina Chestney Publication Date 3 Mar 2010 Document Type News articles Issue/Topic Energy & Climate Source Reuters Include In RSS Business & Sustainable Development News Energy & Climate News