ELR® INTERNATIONAL UPDATE

March 1, 2010

CARBON INVESTORS FRUSTRATED BY SLOW RECOVERY

Trading in voluntary carbon markets continues to be sporadic as buyers focus on either high-quality credits or large volumes of lower-quality ones. "There are deals out there but you have the entire market going after them," said Grattan MacGiffin, head of voluntary carbon at brokers MF Global. Investors remain cautious due to hurdles to a U.S. federal emissions trading scheme, uncertainty about the future of the global carbon markets and pessimism about a global climate deal this year. Lenny Hochschild, who manages Evolution Markets' Carbon America's Group, told Reuters, "(The market) has picked up since the low point of 2009 but it is clearly not going back to being a robust voluntary market. We are just beginning to see the signs of economic recovery," For the full story, visit http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61N4MC20100224

GALAPAGOS FUR SEALS GAIN FOOTHOLD IN WARMING PERU

Fur seals from the Galapagos Islands have established a colony some 900 miles from their normal habitat, on the Pacific Coast of Peru. The seals have been sporadically sighted along South America's northwest coast for several years; however, this is the first time scientists have found evidence evidence of seals are mating in Peru. Carlos Yaipen-Llanos, of the Orca research center in Peru, believes climate change has allowed the fur seals to expand beyond their traditional home. "This is a unique species that used to live exclusively in the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador," he said, " The scientific importance of the Galapagos fur seals establishing a resident colony in Peru is that the animals have extended their range and found a new habitat. This is associated with warmer water temperatures." Data from Peru's geophysics institute indicates that water temperatures off the coast of Peru have varied from 17 degrees Celsius (63 Fahrenheit) in 2000 to 23 Celsius (74 F) last month and temperatures in the Galapagos are around 25 Celsius (77 F). For the full story, visit http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61N4OI20100224

SCIENTISTS WARN THE WHALING WORSENS CARBON RELEASE

U.S. scientist estimate that a century of whaling may have released more than 100 million tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere the equivalent to burning 130,000 sq km of temperate forests, or to driving 128,000 Humvees continuously for 100 years. Whales store large amounts of carbon in their bodies, which is released when they die. Dr Andrew Pershing of the University of Maine described whales as the "forests of the ocean". He and his colleagues from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute calculated the capacity of whales to store carbon as they grow. Dr Pershing stressed that this was still a relatively tiny amount of carbon when compared to what is produced by human activity; however, whales play an important role in storing and transporting carbon in the marine ecosystem and leaving large groups of whales to grow could sequester carbon, in amounts comparable to some reforestation schemes that earn and sell carbon credits. For the full story, see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8538033.stm

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