Abu Dhabi commits $17.4bn to clean energy - The Abu Dhabi Government said it would invest US$15 billion ($17.4 billion) in clean energy projects. It said the investment was “the most ambitious sustainability program ever launched by a government.” The investment will be channelled through the Masdar Initiative, a company that aims to commercialise renewable energy developments. Masdar will leverage the Abu Dhabi Government’s initial US$15 billion ($17.4 billion) investment with joint ventures and other investment partners for a portfolio many times larger, comprised of projects in Abu Dhabi, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and globally.

International recognition for Oceanlinx and Dyesol - Australian companies Oceanlinx and Dyesol have been included in European publisher CNBC’s Top 100 Low Carbon Emissions Pioneers list, coming in at numbers 46 and 96 respectively. The list recognises companies doing the most to combat climate change. Oceanlinx, a renewable energy company specialising in wave energy, has had its technology successfully tested with the first full-scale Oceanlinx wave plant, installed at Port Kembla in NSW. Dyesol, a supplier of technology and materials to the solar cell sector, has patented "dye solar cell technology" which mimics photosynthesis, where the green dye chlorophyll in a leaf absorbs the energy from light and generates electrons, which are captured in the leaf structure.

Emission permit trade grows to $67bn in 2007 - Global greenhouse emission permits and credits were traded for €40 billion ($67 billion) in 2007 against €22.5 billion ($37.8 billion) in 2006, an increase of 80% said market analyst Point Carbon. The EU Emissions Trading Scheme saw almost two-thirds of the traded volume, with most of the growth in forward contracts for the second phase of the scheme that runs from 2008 to 2012. The other major market was the UN-administered clean development mechanism, under which 947 million tonnes of CO2e were traded.

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