Company Name : national institute of technology Surat(SVNIT) Source : http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/02/06/stories/2010020653241500.htm

Notwithstanding uncertainty in the global carbon trade, consulting and advisory firms such as Emergent Ventures, Ernst & Young and GTZ, are beginning to see a revival of interest from Indian companies to earn and sell carbon credits.

The carbon market is in a state of flux post Copenhagen as the Summit fell short of producing a legally binding treaty to fight the climate crisis. However, as part of the Accord, 55 countries announced their commitment to cut their emission levels.

“Despite uncertainty, people are putting up projects. There is no way that the carbon market will die beyond 2012,” said Mr Aseem Chaturvedi, Senior Consultant at Emergent Ventures, a Gurgaon-based carbon advisory and consulting firm.

“People have started revisiting their plans to obtain carbon credits and we have seen some enquires,” Mr Chaturvedi said, without divulging details. India accounts for close to a fourth of the 2,029 CDM (clean development mechanism) projects registered with the UNFCC. The country accounts for 12 per cent of the expected annual average CER (carbon emission reduction certificates) issued from the registered projects with UNFCC.

“People had preferred to wait in the aftermath of Copenhagen. Now as things have stabilised, they are looking at transactions,” said Mr Dipankar Ghosh, Partner, Climate Change and Sustainability Services at Ernst & Young. “Besides, people would like to sell carbon credits and get value on their books before the end of fiscal,” he added.

Wait is over

Carbon as a commodity has gained acceptance in the international market place. CER prices have been volatile and the December 10 futures contract traded at €11.21 on the European climate exchange.

“The wait is over and people have to take a call on selling their CERs,” said Mr Uma Maheshwaran, deputy team leader of Carbon Procurement unit at GTZ. “The momentum in trade is picking up,” he added.

CER prices are expected to remain low for the year-ahead and consultants expect that the outcome of the UN ministerial meet at November in Mexico would set directions for the market. “Trend in prices will depend on the November meeting and when the US will come up with a climate policy,” Emergent's Mr Chaturvedi said.

However, Mr Jaldeep Sodhi, Vice-President of Avalon Consulting, feels that the CER market was unlikely to strengthen unless there are some clear positive signals on commitment to the Kyoto Protocol post 2012. “The voluntary cuts proposed by some countries are clearly not enough. The cuts need to be deeper, not sure whether these countries will be able to generate consensus internally during the course of the year,” Mr Sodhi added.