With carbon trading slipping along with the global economic collapse, a business mission to the United Kingdom (UK) seeks to rev up the participation of Philippine projects in clean development mechanism (CDM) initiatives by broadening investment opportunities in renewable energy projects.

A mission organized by Merritt Partners, an advisory firm chaired by former Energy Secretary Vince Perez, is targeting the participation of 10 to 15 RE and non-RE companies for the Renewable Energy and Carbon Market Business Mission to London, England this September.

Among those which indicated interest to join are SN Aboitiz Power, Holcim, Merritt’s affiliate Alternergy; plus other firms which are planning to develop RE projects.

According to Perez, the mission hopes “to create and establish business relationships between and among mission participants.”

This will be carried out in collaboration with UK Trade and Investment and the UK Climate Change Projects Office.

Merritt Partners noted the business mission is hinged on expectations that CDM trading initiatives will rebound, simultaneous to prospects of the global economy picking up.

Asked if the mission’s outcome will help elevate some investor issues to the crafting of the Copenhagen framework that shall serve as the guiding policy for CDM initiatives beyond the Kyoto Protocol, event organizers indicated they will calculate next steps as needed.

For many of the investors, the outcome they would want to see at the Copenhagen framework is to have a more stable pricing scheme for carbon trading so they would be enticed pouring in capital for clean energy technologies.

It has been part of Perez’s aspirations that “the business mission will generate significant investments that would contribute to the Philippine government's goal of attaining energy independence.”

For his part, former British Ambassador to the Philippines Peter Beckingham noted that the passage of the Philippine Renewable Energy law offers “vast opportunities for investments. The UK on the other hand has the technical expertise and the needed capital to firm up the investments."

The Department of Energy (DoE) vouched on more than 100 RE projects under evaluation, but none of these so far, are ready for implementation.

At this stage, the two countries said the mission will just serve as the gateway to strengthening trade relations; but firm commitments are expected coming later.

During the business mission, Merritt Partners said the UK Carbon Market Investors Association will host a reception for the Philippine business delegation.