World Energy President and Chief Operating Officer Phil Adams is speaking on the keynote panel at today’s Voluntary Carbon Markets conference in New York City, which is the premiere US event focused solely on the market. The panel kicks off the conference’s focus on the past, present and future of the US voluntary market.

The Wall Street Journal discusses how top US investment banks, including Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley are anticipating government caps on greenhouse-gas emissions and are setting environmental standards for companies trying to acquire financing for coal-fired power plants. In a move to reduce debt risk, the banks will require these companies to prove their viability under the possible regulations before receiving financing.

This article from The Times discusses how the European Union might limit the ability to trade Certified Emission Reduction credits after 2012 if a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol, which will create a wider market for carbon, is not agreed upon. This could potentially harm a United Nations plan that promotes carbon-reducing power projects in poor countries.

Reuters looks at a new report from a Canadian government-commissioned panel which suggests the Canadian governments should spend C$2 billion to encourage the implementation of technologies to capture and store carbon. The panel estimates that the aid could help get three to five capture and storage projects operational by 2015. There is concern, however, that carbon capture will replace initiatives that reduce greenhouse gases.