The London Accord is a cooperative research programme to assess investment in climate change initiatives. The distinguishing feature of The London Accord is its use of mainstream investment research houses to assess current investment opportunities in carbon reduction. The results of The London Accord should be of immense interest to anyone who believes that economics and investment in mitigation initiatives is central to solving the climate change challenge, whether they be governments, economists, environmentalists, investors or pensioners.

During 2007 the key sponsors, BP and the City of London Corporation, supported by Z/Yen, Forum for the Future and Gresham College, are assembling leading investment research houses and economists to analyse the opportunities for investment in climate change initiatives and provide a rough ordering of cost/benefit in terms of carbon reduction. These results can be used to evaluate roughly-equal financial investments in carbon reduction initiatives.

During 2006 we launched a “call for participation”. Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, Sarasin, Société Générale, CSFB, ABN and Canaccord Adams have already agreed to contribute research, with further support from The Santa Fe Institute and The London School of Economics. Generation IM, Universities Superannuation Scheme, Axa IM, Insight Investment, Henderson and the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change have already expressed strong interest. The results are intended for wide publication via Reuters' syndication and the City of London Corporation Research Series.

We are still recruiting additional investment research firms to start with us in January 2007 (hint with a hot blast of CO²).