Renewable technology producers and early adopters to be the big winners at Copenhagen, says Allianz

26 November 2009

Investment and analysis specialist Allianz Global Investors has predicted that the big winners from the upcoming Copenhagen climate summit could be renewable energy technology providers and early corporate adopters of emissions reduction measures.

The firm said that the momentum of renewable energy policy spelled growing profits for providers of clean technology such as biofuels, turbines, smart grids and fuel cells.

‘We see sufficient momentum at the national level to ensure commitment to the development of clean technologies and efforts to phase out over reliance on CO2 intensive fossil fuels,’ said Bozena Jankowska, manager, Allianz RCM Global EcoTrends Fund.

Businesses that have been ahead of the curve in reducing their greenhouse emissions were also well-placed to benefit, Jankowska said.

The leaders of almost 70 countries will convene in Denmark between from 7 to 18 December this year to discuss approaches to climate change. The summit has the potential to be the most significant driver of international policy the issue since the European Union decided to ratify the Kyoto protocol in 2002.

The conference is now reportedly to be attended by US president Barack Obama and Chinese premier Wen Jiabao. The presence of Obama and Jiabao, which had been under question, has raised expectations for what might be accomplished at the summit, as the stances of the US and China on the issue could have far-reaching implications for the rest of the world. Although Obama is reportedly only staying at the summit for part of the deliberations, he is expected to promise to cut US emissions to 17 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020.

Allianz said that if the talks are successful, then it would speed economies towards the point where growth and greenhouse gas emissions are no longer linked, and would galvanise companies and governments to set technological standards for low carbon solutions, as well as building sufficient support to get domestic climate change policy bills passed.

If the talks are unsuccessful, or if the measures agreed on are insufficiently substantive, then Allianz predicted that local policy development may stall, particularly in countries lie the US and Australia, where the ability to pass legislation into law relies in part on commitments by China and other emerging economies. It could also lead to a slowdown in the commitments made by the private sector due to uncertainty regarding the future cost of greenhouse gas emissions.

The firm stopped short of saying that the failure of the Copenhagen summit would be a catastrophe for climate change policy and the renewable power industry, as many countries already had ambitious climate change policy infrastructure in place which they would be likely to pursue irrespective of the outcome in December.

Barbara Evans, sustainability research analyst at Allianz subsidiary RCM, said that commitment needed to be made by industrialised countries to mid-term emissions reduction, saying that many have made promises that are as yet unbacked by strong policy accords.

Evans said, ‘While it is positive that we already have an almost complete list of ‘intentions’ from the developed world countries, in many cases these fall short of the cuts demanded by experts. Currently, Norway is the only country in the world that has indicated a commitment to reductions at the top end of the range urged by experts.’

Allianz Global Investors is a subsidiary of global insurance, investment and asset management group Allianz.

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Tags: policy

This story was published on Thursday, November 26th, 2009 at 4:37 pm and is filed under Europe, Features, energy efficiency, news. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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