Durban a ‘Viagra shot’ for carbon markets?

But what would one expect from Bank of America’s carbon markets chief?

The Financial Times reports:

“The [Durban] deal provides a significant boost for investors in low-carbon technology,” said Abyd Karmali, global head of carbon markets at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, adding this was an achievement amid the woes of the eurozone crisis.

In one of the more bullish business assessments of the new pact, which also includes a separate agreement to negotiate a new process aimed at legally obliging all countries to commit to cut their carbon emissions, he said the deal was “like a Viagra shot for the flailing carbon markets”.

Carbon prices have plunged to record lows in recent weeks as Europe’s emissions trading scheme, the world’s largest, has been hit by eurozone uncertainties and fears of an oversupply of carbon credits.

So perhaps carbon markets will survive a bit longer (now with Canada, Japan and Russia) but we think Michael A. Levi of the Council on Foreign Relations makes the more salient point, as he told the New York Times:

The reality is that there is no more agreement on the future of the climate talks than there was when negotiators first convened two weeks ago. Europe will continue to insist on a full-blown legally binding agreement; China and India will continue to oppose one; and the United States, while leaving the door open to an agreement that is binding for all, will continue to be unenthusiastic as well. These positions are largely rooted in incompatible views of the future, and there is no reason to believe that more talking will change them.