Follow the money...

Carbon offset developer raises $280 million: source

Sindicatum Carbon Capital has raised $280 million from U.S. endowment funds and a Dubai sovereign wealth fund, Istithmar, to fund carbon emissions cuts around the world, a source close to the deal said on Tuesday.

Global trade in carbon offsets depends on supportive climate change policies, and allows countries and companies in the developed world to pay others to cut greenhouse gas emissions on their behalf.

Sindicatum Carbon Capital's (SCC) first close on a fund-raising launched in December had endured difficult market conditions including an economic downturn, the source said.

"This is quite a strong signal I think that this market works and this company works," he added.

Istithmar had supplied a quarter of the money, and unnamed U.S. endowment funds, foundations and fund-of-fund pension funds had supplied the bulk of the rest.

Founded in 2005, UK-based SCC had originally aimed to raise about half of an eventual $600 million fund in the first three months of this year, but has proceeded more slowly, reflecting the economic slowdown.

"SCC is not looking for money today, but if it deploys this capital quickly then the fund size could increase."

The $14 billion carbon offset market is underpinned by caps on emissions by industrialized nations, set by the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol and the European Union's emissions trading scheme.

Link:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL267416820080902