 |
|
 |
| |
Conference Program 2009
Day 1: Tuesday, 15 September, 2009 |
08.00am |
Registration opens |
| 08.30am |
Welcome and opening remarks
Vered Tsedaka, Conference Manager, Institutional Investor Carbon Forums
|
8.45am - 10.15am
Session 1: OPENING POLICY KEYNOTES |
| |
Understanding the implications of climate regulation for investors requires awareness of how the negotiation of political positions will impact the final form of federal legislation.
This session will provide practical insight on the political process and on how the positions of key stakeholders will influence the regulation pushed through. |
| 08.45am |
Chair’s opening remarks:
Domestic and international forces shaping the US federal climate change legislation
• What can be learned on timelines and measures from the political process so far?
• How is momentum building in key economies towards the international negotiations?
• What positions will the US present at COP -15 to accommodate for its domestic progression?
Dr Martin A. Spitzer, Director, Legislative Affairs, Center for Clean Air Policy |
| 08.55am |
International economic competitiveness – How will costs be distributed?
• How is carbon incorporated into the measurement of sector vulnerability to production migration?
• Where are the US, China and India’s positions at the moment?
• Will carbon trade measures be implemented?
Mark Linscott, Assistant United States Trade Representative for Environment and Natural Resources,
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Executive Office of the President |
| 09.10am |
What benchmarks must a cap-and-trade mechanism achieve?
• What environmental targets need to be set for a US climate package?
• Risk analysis of key sectors – What are the expected implications for growth?
Mark Brownstein, Managing Director, Business Partnerships, Climate and Air Program,
Environmental Defense Fund |
| 09.20am |
The process will determine the outcome – Political lobbying on climate legislation
• Analysis of the key political power influences impacting the shaping of a climate change bill
• The lobbying landscape and the caveats that are likely to be pushed through
Sean Todd, President, FoxPotomac Resources
|
 |
|
 |
10.15am |
Networking refreshment break |
10.45am - 12.15pm
Session 2: THE US ENERGY MARKETS |
|
This session will present analysis on expected cost implications for the US energy industry under a federal bill to cap GHG emissions, taking into account political standpoints and technology availability. |
| 10.45am |
Chair’s opening remarks:
How will state and regional pressures shape the federal regulation?
Core friction points – State divides, regional electricity pricing, infrastructure
• Achieving balance between leakage and adjustment to market specifics
Mark Crisson, President and Chief Executive Officer, American Public Power Association |
| 11.00am |
Investing in the US energy sector
• How are carbon risks factored into portfolio investments and equities?
Brian Chin, Director, US Power and Utilities, Citigroup |
11.10am |
UTILITIES PANEL:
The view of the energy sector
The panel will feature from representatives of US utilities commenting on how they see their markets being affected by the introduction of carbon legislation, taking into account:
• Portfolio diversification
• Activity locations
• Ownership structure
Panel members:
Bruce Braine, Vice President, Strategic Policy Analysis, American Electric Power
Jonathan Weisgall, Vice President, Regulatory and Legislative Affairs, MidAmerican Energy
David Manning, Executive Vice President and Chief Environmental Officer, National Grid
Steve Corneli, Senior Vice President, Market and Climate Policy, NRG Energy
|
|
1.45pm - 3.15pm
Session 3: CARBON TRADING AND THE SECONDARY CARBON MARKETS |
| 01.45pm |
Chair:
Paul Ezekiel, Managing Partner, Yallingup Capital
Questions on allocations, auctioning revenue utilization and managing carbon as a security bear direct consequences for participants engaged with emissions instruments.
This session will provide analysis on the trading landscape to deduce how markets are responding to the developments in US and international climate negotiations.
Topics for discussion include:
• Should OTC transactions be regulated and what are the questions surrounding transparency in the market?
• How will the design of auction mechanisms and allocations influence trading and the secondary markets?
• What does the shift in carbon price levels reveal about investor confidence in emissions trading?
• What can be deduced from recent trading activity in US emissions products?
Opening Keynote:
What market oversight mechanisms exist to ensure long term viability of emissions trading?
Bart Chilton, Commissioner, commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
Christian de Valle, Director, Environmental Markets, BNP Paribas*
Jean-Philippe Brisson, Vice President, C-Quest Capital
Jason Patrick, Vice President, Emissions Trading, Merrill Lynch-Bank of America
|
03.15pm
|
Networking refreshment break
|
03.45pm - 05.00pm
Session 4: THE US OFFSETS MARKET: FROM PRE-COMPLIANCE TO MANDATORY |
| |
By setting economy-wide carbon capping measures, a market for offsets is due to be created to facilitate achieving full scale reductions.
The session will feature investors and project developers actively positioning themselves towards a compliance market. |
| 03.45pm |
Chair’s opening remarks
Roger Feldman, Head, Clean and Renewable Energy Group, Andrews Kurth |
| 03.55pm |
Financing clean energy projects in the US – Structure and viability with carbon in mind
• Structuring clean energy project financing – How significant are regional incentives?
• Will the value of compliance offsets play a major role in domestic projects?
Rohan Singh, Senior Vice President, Energy Group, HSH Nordbank |
| 04.05pm |
Managing and hedging regulatory risk for compliance offsets
Greg Arnold, Managing Director, CE2Capital |
| 04.15pm |
The potential for aggregation of offsets – What is the view on promising technologies?
Annika Colston, Vice President, BlueSource
|
05.00pm
|
Networking drinks reception
|
Day 2: Wednesday, 16 September, 2009 |
08.00am |
Registration opens |
| 08.45am |
Welcome and opening remarks
Vered Tsedaka, Conference Manager, Institutional Investor Carbon Forums
|
08.50am - 10.15am
Session 5: CARBON CAPPING – THE CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTATION AND OVERSIGHT |
08.50am |
As discussions on a federal cap-and-trade mechanism advance, the questions of market oversight and implementation are being reviewed more closely.
The session will feature presentations by the US agencies that will assume a regulatory role over the markets, as they debate the scope of their involvement.
Topics for discussion include:
• Achieving a balance between environmental objectives and sophistication in market structure
• How will long term energy targets be managed alongside short term carbon market developments?
• Auction implementation - Results and the implications for a federal bill
Sam Napolitano, Director, Clean Air Markets, US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA)
Scott Miller, Senior Market Advisor, Office of Energy Market Regulation, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Jonathan E. Schragg, Executive Director, RGGI Inc.
|
10.15am
|
Networking refreshment break
|
10.45am - 12.00pm
Session 6: LONG TERM ASSET MANAGEMENT |
| |
Chair:
Cary Krosinsky, Vice President, Trucost
Much emphasis has been placed on long term capital, with investment horizons matching the time frames required to achieve significant emissions reductions.
The session will feature a panel discussing the risks that need to be accounted for and will highlight the sectors viewed as likely to benefit from these sources of capital. |
| 10.45am |
Pricing long term climate change risks – What is the role for the insurance industry?
• Regulating long term climate change liabilities
• Are market forces enough to ensure adequate insurance products are made available?
David Kodama, Senior Director, Policy Analysis, Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) |
| 10.55am |
Advancing corporate responses to climate change
• Enhanced analysis and engagement as climate-risk mitigation tools – An asset manager’s perspective
Alexis Krajeski, Associate Director, Governance and Sustainable Investment, F&C Asset Management |
| 11.05am |
An institutional investor’s perspective on influencing the corporate agenda
Patrick Doherty, Director, Corporate Social Responsibility, City of New York, Comptroller’s Office |
| 11.15am |
How do climate change risks fit into a broader business risk framework?
• How to navigate conflicting risks rising from climate change exposure and short term business operations?
Chris Tehranian, Senior Associate, Meketa Investment Group
|
 |
|
 |
01.15pm - 04.00pm
Session 7: INVESTMENTS EMERGING FROM CARBON PRICING
The afternoon will be dedicated to a debate on what creates a promising business venture in projects and technologies enabling the transition to a low carbon economy.
|
01.15pm - 02.30pm
Session 7A: INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES EMERGING FROM LAYERED CARBON REGIMES
|
|
| 01.15pm |
The fragmentation in the existing US carbon regulatory landscape has given rise to localized initiatives on a varying scale.
The session will debate the extent to which present investments in these markets offer future gains and the potential to expand operations once a federal scheme is implemented.
Topics include:
• Do regional, state and municipal initiatives provide a sufficient driver for investments in projects and clean technology?
• Where is further clarity required to drive investments under the regional schemes?
• What leveraging potential exists in smaller scale projects towards a federal scheme?
Chair:
Lisa Jacobson, President, Business Council on Sustainable Energy
Lois A. New, Acting Deputy Director, Office of Climate Change, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
Kelly Bennett, Northeast Regional Director and National Policy Director, Sterling Planet
Dennis Haines, Vice President and General Counsel, Environmental Power Corp.
|
|
02.30pm
|
Networking refreshment break
|
02.45pm - 04.00pm
Session 7B: LOW CARBON AND CLEANTECH INVESTMENTS
|
|
| |
Policy initiatives and funding injections drive investments in clean technologies targeting reductions and sequestration of GHG emissions.
This session will feature investorsʼ views on what turns a technology solution into a successful product. |
| 02.45pm |
Chair’s opening remarks:
The makings of a viable cleantech investment in the US
Nicholas Parker, Co-Founder and Chairman, The Cleantech Group |
| 02.55pm |
Assessing commercialization potential for cleantech investments
• Identifying a market for a technology during early stage development
• From a technology solution to a successful product – What are the hurdles?
John T. Preston, Managing Partner, C Change Investments Management |
| 03.05pm |
Equity analysis in the cleantech sector
• What to look for in technical and value analysis of cleantech companies?
• How are stimulus efforts and pre-compliance positioning impacting such equities?
Theodore O’Neill, Green Tech Analyst, Kaufman Bros. |
| 03.15pm |
Commercializing technologies – The buyer’s perspective
• Experience gained from the Clean Air Act – Utilities’ demand for viability of technology solutions
• Incorporating technologies into operations – Where are the bottlenecks?
Dr James E. Staudt, President, Andover Technology Partners
|
|
 |
|

|
04.00pm |
Close of conference |
|
|
 |
|
 |
|