Linklaters selected to assist the Clinton Climate Initiative in the financing of energy efficient technology
22 November 2007
Linklaters has been selected to assist the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) in the development phase of the Clinton Climate Initiative's Energy Efficiency Building Retrofit Program - a global project which will assist municipalities and private property owners in reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in urban buildings. The Program brings together seven of the world’s largest energy service companies, five of the world’s largest banks and 40 of the world’s largest cities in a coordinated effort to significantly reduce energy use in urban buildings and infrastructure.
JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Deutsche Bank, UBS and ABN Amro have each publicly committed to arrange US$1 billion of financing to facilitate the retrofit of existing municipal and privately owned urban buildings with energy efficient technology. The financings will be structured to be repaid primarily with the energy savings generated by the reduced energy costs resulting from the building retrofits. The energy service companies will conduct baseline energy audits, perform the building retrofits, and guarantee the resulting energy savings that will support the financings.
Matthew Hagopian, head of Linklaters’ US law energy practice and a partner in Linklaters' Energy & Infrastructure, Global Project Finance group, said:
“Urban areas are estimated to be responsible for approximately 75% of all energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in the world. The retrofit of existing urban buildings with energy efficient technology represents low hanging fruit in the important challenge of controlling global greenhouse gas emissions in the near term. We are keen to lend our expertise in the energy, environmental and structured finance sectors to help CCI and its partners design a financial product that can take advantage of the substantial net cost savings resulting from these retrofits and any potential revenue from certified or voluntary emission reductions and thereby substantially accelerate the pace at which such measures are implemented across the globe.”
The team is being led by Matthew Hagopian and Vanessa Havard-Williams, who heads Linklaters environment practice, and will involve a cross-jurisdictional team from a number of practice areas within Linklaters. The firm will assist in the development of the programme on a pro bono basis.
For further information, please contact:
Emma-Jane Stallard on +44 20 7456 4467 or emma_jane.stallard@linklaters.com or Sarah Peters on +44 20 7456 2153 or sarah.peters@linklaters.com
