Brussels, 28/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - The carbon managers of the Multilateral Carbon Credit Fund (MCCF) have appointed Fortis Intertrust Netherlands as service provider for the fund. Fortis Intertrust will be responsible for structuring the body specially created for the acquisition of carbon credits (the Carbon Purchase Intermediary or CPI), and ensuring the management and administration of the trust, the European Investment Bank (EIB) says in a press release published on Tuesday 27 May. Fortis Intertrust, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fortis, is a global premium quality provider of trust and corporate management services; it has also been a frontrunner on the emerging carbon markets, where it has made an impact thanks to the strong environmental teams it has in place.
The MCCF, which was created jointly by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the EIB, is one of the few carbon funds dedicated specifically to countries from Central Europe and Central Asia. The MCCF, launched in December 2006, incorporates two funds: a Project Carbon Fund and a Green Carbon Fund. The Project Fund already has commitments of €150 million from six countries and six companies. The Green Fund is specifically dedicated to green investment schemes and currently has commitments totalling €40 million.
From the outset the MCCF was intended to have an intermediate structure involving three independent private sector companies, the “carbon managers”, responsible for creating, negotiating and monitoring transactions for the acquisition of carbon credits from the vendors (project companies). The three carbon credit managers are currently GreenStream Network (Finland), ICF Consulting Ltd (UK) and Royal Haskoning (Netherlands). The acquisition of carbon credits through the purchase intermediary is undertaken under back-to-back contracting arrangements between the project company, the CPI and participants (with or without the intermediation of the EBRD, depending on whether or not the participant is a sovereign entity). (O.L.)