BLUE SOURCE SURVEY: Majority of Carbon Finance and Investment Professionals Believe Carbon Offsets Enhance Corporate Sustainability
NEW YORK – June 4, 2007 -- A majority of investment professionals and leading corporate environmental officers attending a recent Carbon Finance and Investment Summit would purchase carbon offsets to reduce their corporation’s carbon footprint to enhance corporate sustainability, according to the results of a recent survey from Blue Source, LLC, developers of North America’s leading greenhouse gas emission reduction offset portfolio.
The survey, conducted among the more than 250 attendees of the Carbon Finance and Investment Summit in New York on May 21-23, found that:
- Ninety percent of the respondents reported they would purchase carbon offsets in the current voluntary market to reduce their company’s carbon footprint suggesting that more and more investors are realizing the increasing value of carbon offsets and the growing North American carbon market.
- Fifty-two percent of the respondents said the most important investment criterion for investing in a greenhouse gas emission reduction project was the estimated return on investment, not the scalability of the project, total volume of emission reductions or stability of cash flows.
- 29 percent of respondents said the projected volume of emission reductions would be the most important investment criteria in a greenhouse gas emission reduction project.
“These results show that investors recognize the value of carbon offsets as a key component of corporate sustainability, and believe it is prudent to invest in offsets ahead of impending federal regulations,” said Greg Spencer, Blue Source President. “There is a rapidly growing recognition in the US of the need to manage carbon risk and opportunities across the spectrum of industries and activities.”
Ranking lower among those surveyed, in order of importance as an investment criterion for a greenhouse gas reduction project, was stable cash flow at 10 percent and scalability at approximately four percent.
Attendees of the conference at the Manhattan Center Studios offered panel discussions with academics such as former New York Governor George Pataki, energy industry investors and leading corporate executives, including those from J.P. Morgan, First Reserve Corporation, Credit Suisse, Duke Energy Corporation, GE, Shell and Dow Chemical.
Blue Source operates at the intersection of climate change and domestic energy policy to help industry leaders in the US achieve voluntary or mandatory reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. Blue Source has created the largest greenhouse gas verified emission reduction portfolio in North America, with offsets in 45 states and more than 40 million tonnes of offsets on public registries, such as Environmental Resources Trust.
