RepuTex-ESG, a Hong Kong-based research firm, has launched RepuTex ESG-Connect, Asia’s first platform to provide companies, asset managers and investors with free environment, social and governance (ESG) research, data and content on Asian companies.
News that Suzlon Energy is set to default on over USD200 million in overseas convertible bonds and that Sinovel's net profits for the first nine months of the year would be down 50 percent, indicate that global wind turbine companies are facing financial hurdles so far mainly experienced by the solar sector.
Yingli Green Energy Holding and JA Solar Holdings, two of China’s top four solar cell makers, cut forecasts for total shipments for the year after losses widened and prices of their products plunged.
The past two weeks have seen the Chinese solar energy pioneer Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd plunge into a downward spiral after revelations of questionable accounting, leaving the firm on the edge of financial collapse and its fate largely in the hands of Beijing. But rather than rescue Suntech, Beijing should let the company collapse to send a message that it won't support companies that engage in such financial shenanigans.
Malaysia’s state investment vehicle, 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), is said to be planning to float its power assets in a bid to raise up to USD2 billion.
The slump in renewable energy shares appears to be ending with bidders from China and South Korea are displaying strong interest German solar manufacturer Q-Cells and A123 Systems, a US lithium-ion battery systems maker.
Bloomberg reported that China’s Wanxiang Group confirmed it would invest as much as USD465 million in A123 last Thursday, two hours after Q-Cells confirmed it was in talks to sell assets to Seoul-based Hanwha Chemical Corp, the parent company of Hanwha SolarOne.
Simultaneously with the announcement of the 2012 Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Index constituents, research and advisory firm RepuTex has released its ESG Annual Review 2012, titled Asia On The Move, analyzing the ESG performance of Hong Kong and Chinese A-listed companies by market and category.
China on Wednesday launched a physical trading platform for rare earth metals as part of its efforts to regulate the sector and strengthen its pricing power for the resources, according to China Daily.
A second nuclear power company in China is planning a stock market flotation. China Nuclear Engineering Corporation Ltd, a subsidiary of state-owned China Nuclear Engineering Group, is planning to apply to the China Securities Regulatory Commission later this year.The company has take the first step by filing an application with the Beijing municipal securities authority, the 21st Century Business Herald reported.
Hong Kong-listed Guodian Technology & Environment Group has received approval from China Securities Regulatory Commission for a corporate bond issue valued at CNY4 billion (USD628 million).
China-based solar panel manufacturer Suntech is being sued by two US investor groups that allege the company failed to disclose a EUD560m (USD687m) bond pledge.
Officials from a Chinese solar industry body have warned that China may retaliate over a European anti-dumping complaint filed against Chinese solar companies, Reuters reported yesterday.
In a move to get back on its feet following economic losses that were partly a result of its environmental disasters last year, the Japanese government is putting “green growth” at the core of its recently approved long-term economic revival plan.
Embattled Suntech Power Holdings may be forced to look to China to raise the USD541 million it needs to pay its debt obligations and remain a going concern as international investors turn away from the world’s largest solar panel manufacturer.
To paraphrase wit and playwright Oscar Wilde: “To lose one grid, Mr Singh, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness”. For India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, the power collapse of, eventually, three power grids over two days leaving more than 600 million people without electricity, should be the starkest message yet that India and its politicians need to stop pandering to populism, bite-the-bullet on economic reforms and clean up its legal and regulatory act.
A benchmark global index of clean-energy stocks, the WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation Index (NEX), has hit a nine-year low.
The industry is beset by oversupply, falling prices and uncertain government support. According to Bloomberg the NEX fell 81 cents to USD102.40 in New York on yesterday, its lowest level since April 2003 and bringing 19 per cent loss for the year.
Institutional investors concerned about climate change have retained, and in many cases, boosted their commitment to addressing the issue despite wider economic and financial challenges and continuing policy uncertainty according to a new report.
Jointly published by three institutional investor forums covering Europe, North America and Australia/New Zealand, the 2011 Global Investor Survey on Climate Change says more progress is needed in translating climate-related investment policies, research and risk assessments into investment decisions that reduce climate risks to portfolios and seek to capture climate-driven investment opportunities.
This report by the World Bank spells out what the world would be like if it warmed by 4 degrees Celsius, which is what scientists are nearly unanimously predicting by the end of the century, without serious policy changes.
Companies in Asia reveal expectations that regulations that could lead to rising costs for reporting and reducing GHG emissions will also be the main sources of climate-related business opportunities.
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