Washington (Platts)--8Jul2008

The global carbon market has generated almost as much money in the first
half of 2008 as it did in all of 2007, consulting firm Point Carbon said on
Tuesday.

The company said 1.8 gigatons of CO2 equivalent was traded globally in
the first half of this year, worth some Eur38 billion (US$59 billion),
compared with Eur40 bill for all of 2007. The aggregate worth of transactions
in the first half of this year is already 94% of the value for all 2007
transactions, in large part because of a "notably higher" average carbon price
of Eur20.61/metric ton CO2e, up from Eur13.36/mt last year.
Point Carbon said that 70% of the 1.8 Gt CO2e traded thus far in 2008 was

transacted within the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, up from 61% over the same
period in 2007. Trades within the EU ETS generated Eur30 billion over the
first six months of 2008, 161% above the same period last year, the consultant
said.

In addition, Point Carbon said several new markets and market segments
have been introduced, including the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in the
US, the trading scheme in Alberta, Canada, and the upcoming Australian federal
Emissions Trading Scheme.

Endre Tvinnereim, senior analyst at Point Carbon, said that "for all of
Kyoto's shortcomings, the carbon market owes pretty much everything to the
Kyoto Protocol. The market is no longer immature and precocious, but rather
advancing on many fronts, both geographically and in terms of financial
sophistication. Indeed, unlike other economic sectors hit by a global downturn
this year, the global carbon market is in rude health."