Climate Exchange Plc Trading Update For 2009: Continued Growth In Futures Volume Both At ECX And CCFE

Climate Exchange plc, the leading international environmental exchange operator, is pleased to provide an update on trading for the period 1 July 2009 to 31 December 2009 (H2 2009) together with year end figures.

Highlights for the period under review (H2 2009 compared to H2 2008):

• ECX traded 2,436,072 contracts in H2 2009, an increase of 40% over H2 2008
• ECX average daily volumes for H2 2009 were 18,603 contracts vs.13,311 contracts in H2 of 2008
• ECX open interest in H2 2009 increased to 547,417 contracts, up 54% over H2 2008.
• CCFE traded 753,555 contracts in H2 2009; an increase of 292% over H2 2008
• CCFE average daily volumes for H2 2009 were 5,898 contracts vs. 1,514 in H2 2008, an increase of 290%
• CCFE open interest in H2 2009 increased to 100,488 contracts up 64% over H2 2008

CCX trading volumes declined by 31% in H2 2009 compared to H2 2008. The drop in trading of the voluntary carbon contracts was offset by the 808% increase in trading in the carbon complex contracts on CCFE.

Volumes Traded

Contract	H2 2009	H2 2008	%Change	FY 2009	FY 2008	%Change
ECX EUA Futures Contract	1,786,805	1,214,915	47%	3,777,885	1,991,276	90%
ECX EUA Options Contract	150,161	80,006	88%	415,567	243,166	71%
ECX EUA Daily Futures Contract (Spot)*	47,006	-	-	60,500	-	-
ECX CER Futures Contract**	426,339	401,795	6%	771,937	507,779	52%
ECX CER Options Contract***	40,660	47,050	-14%	91,130	67,800	34%
ECX CER Daily Futures Contract (Spot)****	4,101	-	-	5,239	-	-
CCX CFI (Contracts)	162,223	234,635	-31%	452,041	708,305	-36%
CCFE SFI & NFI Futures & Options Contracts	273,626	132,057	107%	566,514	404,164	40%
CCFE Carbon Complex, incl. CCAR, CFI, CFI-EA, CFI-US, CFI-US-O and RGGI,	477,303	52,561	808%	797,183	68,574	1062%
Other CCFE Products including IFEX	2,626	7,637	-66%	8,882	11,582	-23%

* Launched 13 March 2009
** Launched 14 March 2008
*** Launched 16 May 2008
**** Launched 13 March 2009

Open Interest

Contract	H2 2009	H2 2008	%Change	FY 2009	FY 2008	%Change
ECX EUA Futures Contract	266,474	154,758	72%	266,474	154,758	72%
ECX EUA Options Contract	92,608	45,856	102%	92,608	45,856	102%
ECX CER Futures Contract	129,844	103,541	25%	129,844	103,541	25%
ECX CER Options Contract	58,491	51,350	14%	58,491	51,350	14%
CCFE SFI & NFI Futures & Options Contracts	41,980	33,344	26%	41,980	33,344	26%
CCFE Carbon Complex, incl. CCAR, CFI, CFI-EA, CFI-US, CFI-US-O and RGGI,	50,588	19,454	160%	50,588	19,454	160%
Other CCFE Products including IFEX	7,920	8,552	-7%	7,920	8,552	-7%

New products and initiatives this year included:

In Europe:

13 March 2009            ECX EUA Daily Futures Contract (Spot)

13 March 2009            ECX CER Daily Futures Contract (Spot)

In the U.S.:

20 February 2009        Futures on CCAR-CRT (CCFE California Action Registry – Climate Reserve 

                                    Tonnes)

13 March 2009            Options on CCAR-CRT (CCFE California Action Registry – Climate Reserve 

                                    Tonnes)

17 April 2009               REC-V ( Vermont Renewable Energy Certificate Futures)

17 April 2009               REC-NJ ( New Jersey Renewable Energy Certificate Futures)

17 April 2009               REC-MA ( Massachusetts Renewable Energy Certificate Futures)

17 April 2009               REC-CT ( Connecticut Renewable Energy Certificate Futures)

27 July 2009                IFEX-NEW (Event Linked Futures - Northeast Tropical Wind Events)

27 July 2009                IFEX-ESW (Event Linked Futures - Eastern Seaboard Tropical Wind Events)

31 July 2009                CCAR-CRT (CCFE California Climate Action Registry – Climate Reserve Tonnes) 

                                   (Vintage Specific Contract – V9, V10)

28 August 2009            CCAR-CRT (CCFE California Climate Action Registry – Climate Reserve Tonnes) 

                                    Vintage Specific Contract – V11, V12)

20 November 2009      CFI-EA (Carbon Financial Instruments EA)

20 November 2009      CFI-US-O (Carbon Financial Instrument United States Offset)

Richard Sandor, Executive Chairman of Climate Exchange plc, said: “In the U.S., although the timing remains uncertain, work continues on bipartisan climate legislation. Regional efforts such as RGGI and the Western Climate Initiative are growing and attracting interest from market participants, and the EPA is providing additional clarity on its authorities and evaluating next steps. Each of these outcomes should provide us with growing business opportunities and Climate Exchange is well positioned to take advantage of their tremendous potential however the U.S. legislature determines to address the issue of climate change.”

Neil Eckert, CEO of Climate Exchange plc, said: “In 2009 we endured a perfect storm made up of the coincidence of several events including: the global credit crunch, resulting in reduced volumes in many markets, the closure of many bank proprietary trading desks and significant redemptions for hedge funds and other speculative pools of capital; great political uncertainty leading up to Copenhagen where, as expected, there was no legally binding commitment to a global emissions reduction programme and, lastly, a pushing back of the timetable for a Senate vote on the proposed federal programme in the U.S. In spite of this, we continue to demonstrate outstanding growth in volumes and open interest in our mandatory market products and have maintained our dominant market shares of exchange traded volumes.”

For reference, detailed traded volumes are contained in our monthly London Stock Exchange announcements.