Sheffield – LAWFUEL – DLA Piper’s Sheffield office is to play host to delegates from the US, Russia, Denmark and other UK cities, for an event that will see key players in the global carbon trading market giving advice to local companies.
The event, to be staged on Thursday 8 February, the day after DLA Piper’s Cooling the Planet conference, includes presentations on various aspects of the carbon trading market and will explain the significant business opportunities for companies investing in, or providing technology for, emission reduction projects.
Stephen Sly, office managing partner of the Sheffield office said: “I am delighted DLA Piper has secured such a prestigious line-up of speakers who are global authorities in carbon trading schemes. Emissions reduction is at the top of the political agenda and businesses have to respond. The experience of our climate change team in Sheffield is that the business community is responding to this challenge.”
Up until now it has only been energy intensive companies that needed to comply with emissions trading, which being used as a key instrument by Governments in the drive to tackle climate change. However companies such as hotel chains, supermarkets, rail operators, universities and government department may in the near future be required to comply with a new emissions trading scheme being proposed by the Government called the Energy Performance Commitment.
The Government is proposing that the revenue raised by the Energy Performance Commitment be invested in emission reduction or renewable energy projects. If this is the case then funding may be available to invest in newly developing technology companies in the region. There are also opportunities for local technology providers to supply this sort of technology for projects in overseas countries under the Kyoto Protocol emission reduction projects.
Speakers at the event include Lone Hoegholt, formerly the head of the DLA Piper Moscow office and now a consultant with DLA Piper who is currently seconded to a carbon fund which is investing in projects in Russia and Uzbekistan. Lone will outline the legal and practical issues involved in investing in emission reduction projects in Russia.
Gareth Phillips, Chief Climate Change Officer of Sindicatum will present the types of technologies that are currently being used for emission reduction projects under the Kyoto Protocol while Nicola Steen, Senior Vice President of CO2e, will outline carbon offset products that are available in the US to offset companies’ greenhouse gas emissions.
Liz Bossley, CEO of Consilience Energy Advisory Group Limites, author of “Climate Change and Emissions Trading: What every Business needs to Know” and trainer for ICE Futures will run a two hour carbon trading workshop in the afternoon.
Representatives from DLA Piper, Climate Change Projects Office, DEFRA, TFS Brokers, the European Climate Exchange (“ECX”), will also talk about subjects including the climate change regulatory regimes, the clean development mechanism market in China and carbon trading platforms.
