JP Morgan

In addition to Bear Stearns, JP Morgan has acquired Climate Care, a UK carbon offset company. The company will invest in large-scale carbon emission reduction projects and trade the carbon emission reduction credits. Climate Care will be integrated into JPMorgan’s Environmental Markets Group. Investment banks including Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch have bought stakes in alternative energy projects, but the purchase of Climate Care is the first acquisition of a carbon offset company directly, according to JP Morgan spokesperson. The U.S. Higher Education sector, in its commitment to carbon neutrality, may need billions of emission reduction credits in the future, as measured in tons of carbon emissions. The total global carbon market is estimated at 4.2 billion tons of carbon emissions in 2008, up 56 percent from the previous year, according to recent research.

JP Morgan's Environmental Markets Group