Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 28 Oct 08;
THE financial crisis should not be an excuse for policy-makers and businesses to delay acting to fight climate change, a carbon markets expert said last week.
In fact, the crisis offers an opportunity for carbon markets to grow in tandem with the consolidated and restructured financial markets worldwide, said Mr Jeremy Wilcox, managing director of Britain-based Intelligent Carbon, at a forum here last week.
The general sentiment is that the imperative is to secure the economy, with climate change taking a backseat, he added.
But in reality, carbon trading being a finance instrument, can learn from the mistakes of the financial system and grow alongside it once markets bottom out, he said.
Mr Wilcox also shared the findings of a survey on a snapshot of executive views on Asia's climate change market.
The survey was conducted ahead of the annual United Nations climate change conference in Poznan, Poland, next month.
The online survey, conducted by Intelligent Carbon, polled 31 executives from Asia, Europe, Middle East and North America.
It showed that 96.7 per cent felt that carbon trading helps mitigate climate change.
About two-thirds of the participants believe Asia has the most important role to play in achieving a global climate deal.
But those polled were divided on what realistic global emission targets are. The most popular was a reduction target of 50per cent by 2050.
Many also felt that Asia should develop its own carbon market, similar to Europe's cap-and-trade system, which restricts emissions on certain industries and allows the trading of carbon credits between firms in different countries.
Singapore emerged as the top destination for an Asian carbon market hub among those polled.
Mr Wilcox told The Straits Times that this was not surprising, as Singapore already 'has the necessary infrastructure'.
But Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai are also potential locations, and 'whichever market attracts the most liquidity will become the natural hub', he said.
He told a 40-strong audience at the Asia Carbon Forum at the Raffles City Convention Centre last week that while there is a lot of awareness of climate change issues, there is a lack of direct action in the market in Asia.
'It is like everyone is a believer but no one is going to church. There are not enough people practising their beliefs,' he said.
This sort of practice will develop as Asia becomes part of the global agreement to come out of climate change talks in Copenhagen next year. There is no legal requirement yet so not many companies are taking action, he said.
Europe has led the way in showing how the rest of the world can move towards a carbon-constrained economy and still be competitive, he added.
Other findings include bullish sentiment of businesses on renewable energy technology.
'There's a learning curve, and companies in Asia seem keen on learning from the European experience and technology,' said Mr Wilcox.
