Carbon Rating Agency appoints CEO in Singapore

IDEAcarbon, the strategic advice and information provider for the carbon market, today announced the appointment of Dinesh Babu as CEO of The Carbon Rating Agency (CRA), IDEAcarbon's wholly owned subsidiary.

Yuvaraj Dinesh Babu leaves the Singapore based Asia Carbon Global as a Group Director (Asia Carbon Holdings Pte Ltd.) to join CRA and will operate from Singapore.

Dinesh Babu said: “I am delighted to become CEO of the Carbon Rating Agency and proud to be part of a unique early mover in the carbon service sector. I strongly believe that CRA's ratings have the potential to become a key element for the evolution of transparent and liquid global carbon markets.”

Reporting to the Board of the Carbon Rating Agency, Dinesh will lead the company's strategy of positioning ratings as a key tool for strengthening and expanding global carbon markets by increasing transparency and enhancing the efficiency of decision-making.

Dinesh has extensive experience in the finance, NGO and private sectors and over 15 years experience in the field of renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate change. He has managed a portfolio of over 125 CDM projects in Asia, the Asia Carbon Asset Development Facility and the global carbon trading activities of the Asia Carbon Exchange.

Dinesh has also worked with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in India in the fields of renewable energy and climate change and was one of the core team members of the World Bank's National Strategy Study on CDM implementation in India. He has also executed several CDM-related capacity building programmes for Indian stakeholders.

Shandi Modi, CEO of IDEAcarbon said: “I am pleased to have Dinesh on board. He has the right combination of expertise from both the public and private sectors and a strong grasp of the current carbon market dynamics. His hands -on experience in CDM project development and carbon trading and his access to global networks of private sector carbon players will enable him to play a key role in the success of the Carbon Rating Agency.”

Amul Gogna, London-based Managing Director of the Carbon Rating Agency, also welcomed the appointment: “Singapore is becoming a strategically important hub for carbon trading. With our head offices there and in London we are uniquely placed to link the more active sell-side markets of China and India, with the more active buy side markets of Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Europe.

The Carbon Rating Agency had a successful launch of the world's first independent carbon credit ratings service at the London Stock Exchange, in June 2008. The Carbon Rating Agency is the dedicated ratings subsidiary of IDEAcarbon which has spent two years investing in the development of the carbon ratings process.

About IDEAcarbon

IDEAcarbon is an independent and professional provider of ratings, research and strategic advice on carbon finance. Its services are designed to provide leading financial institutions, corporations, governments, traders and developers with intelligence and analysis of the factors that affect the pricing of carbon market assets.

The IDEAcarbon team are leading experts in the carbon and energy markets. They combine policy and financial intelligence with proprietary tools for the analysis of credit risk. Their techniques assist their clients to manage and mitigate risk in today's uncertain global carbon markets.

For more information please visit: www.ideacarbon.com

About the Carbon Rating Agency

The Carbon Ratings Agency is a wholly owned subsidiary of IDEAcarbon. Its mission is to improve the functioning and efficiency of the carbon markets. The Carbon Rating Agency's ratings and opinions are unencumbered and independent – it does not trade, buy, sell or originate carbon credits.

Further details of the Carbon Ratings Agency's ratings approach are available at www.carbonratingsagency.com