The Sky is Not the Limit: - Carbon Trade Watch

5.4 Think TanksPoint Carbon: Set up in May 2000,this group of researchers based inNorway, produce market analysis inthe form of a monthly magazine andin-depth quarterly reports. Theiranalysis is firmly rooted in the proemissionstrading camp, and theyprovide intellectual support for themarket. Their mandate is to provide“decision-support services, marketanalysis and intelligence” and theymonitor political and economic news toascertain the effects upon the value ofcarbon permits. 1 However, they arenot purely a think tank and lobby theUN process as members of IETA.Pew Center: There is a great deal ofintegration between the corporate,research and public sector in theUNFCCC, perhaps because climatechange has become such aspecialised and technocratic subjectthat only a small number of peoplehave developed the necessaryexpertise on the issues. It cansometimes be difficult to determinewhether a group is a corporate lobbygroup or not. For example, the PewCenter on Climate Change presentsitself as an independent researchorganisation and they will criticise USpolicy in a way that the Global ClimateCoalition would never have done.However, it has been described as anindustry front group and it works withthirty-seven companies - most on theFortune 500 list - on emissionsreductions. 2 It is funded by the PewCharitable Trust, which derives itswealth from Sun Oil Company(Sunoco), Oryx Energy andinvestments in forestry, mining and oilfirms. 35.5 ConsultanciesCO2e.com: Set up by CantorFitzgerald andPricewaterhouseCoopers, CO2e.comwas launched at COP-6 in The Haguein November 2000. As its namesuggests it is an on-line tradingwebsite for emissions trading but alsoprovides consultancy, brokerage andother services through its ‘associates’.The associates ensure that CO2e.comis a one-stop shop for all emissionstrading services.PricewaterhouseCoopers isrecommended by CO2e.com for:consultancy, verification andmonitoring services, project eligibilityas well as ‘other financial advice’. 1 Inthe wake of the scandals involvingrival Arthur Andersen, these types ofcombined service units have comeunder great scrutiny. The samecorporation that is giving financialadvice should not be involved inaccounting, or in this case, verifyingcredits.Evolution Markets LLC: Riding onthe coat-tails of Enron, EvolutionMarkets LLC has positioned itself totake on much of the business thatEnron has lost. The company, offeringbrokerage and consultancy services,has staked more of its corporatereputation on the emissions tradingmarkets than Enron, which couldalways rely on its core business ofenergy trading, generation, andtransport. The New York-basedcompany’s services cover the fullrange of emissions trading markets inthe USA, including specialisedregional markets in Texas, LosAngeles, and the Northeast. LikeEnron and other competitors, thecompany also offers services in coalprovision and weather derivatives(financial instruments to protectagainst risk related to weather, suchas heating oil companies losing moneyif a winter is too warm and consumersuse less oil). Unlike Enron, thecompany has branched out into offset34