With Release 3.3, Carbonflow has extended the available features of CarbonContracts and Connect+ for Carbonflow’s worldwide client base and opens the beta testing phase for Connect+ for Programs of Activity.

Connect+ for PoA (Beta Release)

Cordinating/Managing Entities (CMEs) in a PoA need to comply with the regulatory requirements for a Management System as required by the CDM EB from June 2012. Sandra Greiner, Climate Focus explains: “Benefits of PoAs include the ability to quickly replicate a CDM activity as part of a single programme across a region and to increase the efficiency of the validation and verification processes. The programme structure therefore reduces transaction costs. But in order to secure consistency when replicating activities under a programme, an effective management system is essential.” This fundamental requirement has become recognized by the CDM Executive Board in the PoA Standard and the CDM Project Standard.
Connect+ for PoAs can help CMEs comply with these requirements by providing you with powerful project management tools that include:
· Pre-structured workflow map with clear roles and responsibilities, centrally controlled guidance documents and templates.
· An audit trail of critical activities is automatically collected and can be reported or internal and external review
· Support of the inclusion process to ensure that only complete sets of documents are submitted for approval from CPA level to CME and CME to DOE.
· Automated processes for technical review at CME level and corrective actions including tracking of related deadlines and automated email reminders.
Interested Program Managers are invited to join our Platinum Development Partner Program.

CarbonContracts Dormant Terms Feature

CarbonContracts is a sophisticated tool to monitor and track the ongoing value of and risks in the performance of emission reduction contracts and related portfolios. Many contract terms and associated tasks are triggered by a certain milestone or event. Such dormant terms do not have a known start date, but, if triggered, the buyer or seller has a contractually agreed number of days to react and a specific task to complete.
Users are now able to enter a number of calendar days for the task and term deadline from when the trigger event happened and assign a person to observe the trigger event. The person assigned to watch out for the trigger event will see the dormant task in their contracts dashboard.
Robert Dornau, Carbonflow’s CEO explains the value of this new feature: “We hear frequently that contracts are terminated because of default events. The dormant terms feature will help you assure that you observe important contractual terms and act in a timely manner to protect your contract value.”

More Flexibility and Enhancements based on Client Feedback

The release also contains a number of improvements that provide users with more flexibility in managing their projects without compromising the integrity of a project’s audit trail. This includes the introduction of a controlled delete function for documents. Heidi Smith, Carbonflow’s CTO says: “Carbonflow’s agile software development philosophy allows us to constantly improve our software. We continually strive to understand our clients’ experience in field and respond quickly with features to increase their effectiveness. We are proud to have released this substantial set of new features on time and are looking forward to the next release in June 2012. ”

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With Release 3.2, Carbonflow has extended the available features of CarbonContracts for Carbonflow’s worldwide client base. CarbonContracts is a sophisticated tool to monitor and track the ongoing value of and risks in the performance of emission reduction contracts and related portfolios. CarbonContracts now allows you to nominate an overall risk level for a project and an individual operational risk level for each contract associated with the project. The selected risk levels are used to automatically generate risk adjusted emission reduction delivery projections that are displayed in the contracts delivery table and can be used in scenario modeling in Portfolios.

Bernard Debroux, Head of Carbon Procurement and Supply at GDF says: “In Q3 2011, GDF SUEZ started a partnership with Carbonflow SA for the usage of Connect+ & CarbonContract.  Version 3.2 is the outcome of a long development process by the teams of Carbonflow. Despite recent organizational changes end of 2011 , the new Management of Carbonflow remained very transparent  and proved to be a reliable partner by delivering release 3.2 in conformity with their commitment. The 1st assessment  results of the new release  are encouraging signs for the future “

Robert Dornau, Carbonflow’s CEO explains the value of one of the new feature: “The management of a portfolio of contracts results in vast amounts of data that need to be tracked and analyzed. Many times these data set are spread over several tools and spreadsheets making consistent  portfolio reporting a challenging task. The combination of Carbonflow’s Connect+ and CarbonContracts tools facilitates the tracking of project, emission reduction and service contract related documents, data and payment streams in one place. “

CarbonContracts now allows users to export all or a selection of data associated with Projects and their deliveries and Portfolio analyses in a standard spreadsheet format for record keeping and further analysis. This feature solves a major challenge of portfolio managers to extract the right set of data in a sortable manner for further analysis and individual reporting needs.

Pricing for ER Contracts can be complex, with many different options combining market and contract pricing. CarbonContracts already included support for tiered pricing based on two pre-set delivery tiers – pre-2013 and post-2012 vintages. Release3.2 includes support for additional user defined pricing tiers. Tiers can relate to volume or date thresholds and trigger different pricing models in the same contract. For example a fix price for delivery before a certain date and an index price with a cap for late delivery.

Heidi Smith, Carbonflow’s CTO says: “Carbonflow’s agile software development philosophy allows us to constantly improve our software and realize client customization requests in a very quick manner. We are proud to have released this substantial set of new features on time and are looking forward to the next release in March 2012. “

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Please contact us at contact@carbonflow.com if your are interested in a meeting.

Carbonflow’s multi-party project management software Connect+ is used today to improve the efficiency and audit trail of over 650 projects, with 10 new projects being added each week. Our users are small and large companies, project developers, compliance buyers, investors, auditors and even DNAs.

Robert Dornau, CEO of Carbonflow explains: “The unique advantage of our software is the possibility to collaborate across different parties on one secure platform. In order to increase the efficiency of the project management and approval processes for our clients and the market in general we are providing free access to our software for every interested entity for up to 5 projects.”

Project developers will be able to link free of charge to leading DNAs and DOEs already on Connect+. Managing your project on Connect+ will provide you with most efficient access to leading DOEs including SGS and LRQA, who decided to manage their internal process on Connect+. You will be able to collaborate with consultants, provide efficient and secure access to interested buyers for project due diligence and most importantly keep a consistent audit trail for your project across it’s life time.

Jonathan Hall, Global Head of the Climate Change Program at SGS states: “Working on Connect+ with our clients will help us to make the validation and verification process more efficient and transparent.”

Silvio Leonardi, Director Training and Environment at SQS confirms: “Connect+ is a great tool to centralize the audit trail between all involved team members and experts; we are looking forward to directly working with our clients on the system to increase the efficiency of the assessment process further”.

Lindiwe Chauke , Designated National Authority for Clean Development Mechanism, Department of Energy ( Republic of South Africa ) says: “We are using Connect+ for over a year now and manage the audit trail of over 100 letters of no objection and letter of approval on the platform. We will be happy to link directly with project developers on Connect+ to make full use of Carbonflow’s multi-party capabilities that enhance document sharing and transparency”.

Anne Omambia, SERO/Climate Change Desk Officer, National Environment Management Authority adds “The DNA Kenya started using Connect+ this year. The free use of Connect+ for small CDM developers will provide an opportunity for Kenyan developers to link up with us on the platform in the LoA process.”

Andrew Ritche, Climate Change Services Manager, LRQA states: “Connect+ has helped us to better understand and subsequently streamline our own internal processes. LRQA appreciates the excellent support we have received from Carbonflow in helping us implement Connect+.”

The Free Connect+ Voucher campaign will run until March 2012.

Read our full offer and learn how to apply.

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“In Durban, it is incumbent upon governments to demonstrate their willingness to address climate change by laying out a clear roadmap for how and when a successor framework to the Kyoto Protocol will be achieved, in a manner that could accommodate and recognise efforts at any scale from regional up to global, and set a level of ambition that, in contrast to the current pledges, will actually enable us to limit the average global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius as Heads of State have previously agreed in Copenhagen and Cancun, “ stressed Miles Austin, Director of the Climate Markets & Investment Association (CMIA).

The first period of the Kyoto Protocol that currently provides the international framework for how countries together tackle climate change ends in 2012 and governments have yet to agree on what follows it.  The lack of clarity has already resulted in capital flight.  Investments in projects that bring down carbon emissions in the developing world have fallen from a high of US$7.4 billion in 2007 to US$1.5 billion in 2010. Figures for 2011 are widely expected to reflect a further decline

Robert Dornau, CEO, Carbonflow states: “The future of the CDM depends on clear signals for the supply side that the regulatory infrastructure will continue as well as signals that governments will create the necessary demand. In addition we need to change the way projects are assessed in order to allow for an increased number of projects to be assessed registered and receive issuance at adequate speed. For that two things are needed (1) a central platform for all collaborators in a project to communicate, exchange documents and manage the workflow and (2) the digitization of documents and data, to allow for automated checks and the reduction of errors while maintaing the required high environmental integrity”.

“A successful response to climate change will be defined by policies that succeed in meaningfully engaging private capital.  Our specific suggestions for Durban therefore include further improvements to the Clean Development Mechanism, ensuring that the Green Climate Fund is operationalised and has an explicit strategy to attract private capital, and a formal recognition that countries can use all forms of finance, including markets, to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+),” emphasised Abyd Karmali, President of the CMIA and Global Head of Carbon Markets at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

For further information, please contact:

Miles Austin, miles.austin@cmia.net, +44 7889 344 642

Robert Dornau, robert.dornau@carbonflow.com +41 79 689 22 42

About the CMIA:

The Climate Markets & Investment Association (CMIA) is an international trade association representing over 50 companies that finance, invest in, and provide enabling support to activities that reduce emissions.  CMIA’s membership accounts for an estimated 75 per cent of the global carbon market, valued at USD 120 billion in 2010.  Solely representing organisations that provide services to and invest in the environmental sector, membership does not include any entities with compliance obligations under cap-and-trade schemes.  This results in a unique advocacy platform with emphasis on the environmental integrity of market mechanisms and climate change policies.

About the Carbonflow:

Carbonflow provides an integrated suite of software applications used by organizations worldwide to manage, monitor, and monetize their emission reduction projects. The company provides unique browser-based products and services that empower any organization to manage carbon projects on a secure multi-party platform. The company’s goal is to reduce the time, cost, and complexity of implementing projects, while complying with international, regional, national, and voluntary carbon market requirements.

CMIA_Carbonflow Press Release 20111117

The San Francisco-based company was originally funded by West Coast venture capital firms, including Clean Pacific Ventures, OVP Venture Partners and @Ventures.

“VCs always have themes,” said Robert Dornau, former head of business development and now CEO of Carbonflow. “The theme was to invest in software companies involved in climate change with a view to cap and trade in the US.”

“It became more and more clear that the music plays in Europe – it made no sense for us to be headquartered in San Francisco,” he added. And, given that Carbonflow’s backers prefer that their portfolio companies are based close by, they agreed to management led by Dornau buying out their investment.

The company had raised $8 million from venture investors, but Dornau declined to disclose the financial terms of the management buy-out, aside from saying the new venture is debt-free.

Because the new owners did not want to maintain Carbonflow as US entity, the original company – Carbonflow Corp. – has been closed down, with Carbonflow Switzerland AG acquiring certain assets of the original firm, including the intellectual property, trade name and client relationships. The new company is based in Zurich.

Aside from Dornau, Heidi Smith, who led its software development, becomes chief technology officer, while Jim Beagle, head of sales, also joins the new firm.

The company offers software to help users manage and monitor emission reduction projects. Dornau told Carbon Finance that the company may develop products aimed at new carbon market mechanisms, such as nationally appropriate mitigation actions, and other environmental assets, such as biodiversity offsets.

He added that the company has begun discussions with potential investors to help underwrite product development.

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Sept 21, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland: Carbonflow Switzerland AG announced today that key members of the management team of Carbonflow Corp. have successfully acquired certain assets of the former company in a management buyout, including the intellectual property and trade name. As part of the acquisition, the new group has assumed customer contracts and obligations. The new entity will be based in Europe where the principle emissions reduction market is located, with headquarters in Switzerland. Robert Dornau, a 15-year veteran of the carbon market, will lead the company; Heidi Smith will be head of products and technology. Carbonflow Switzerland AG will assume responsibility for the company’s existing products, services, and client relationships. Additionally, ongoing sales, support, and hosting operations will continue as planned.

The buyout recognizes the increased growth of the Carbonflow client base and platform usage in Europe. Over 500 projects are actively managed on the platform today, with 10 new projects being added per week on average. Carbonflow had successfully developed its product portfolio, starting with Connect+, a multi-party workflow, document and project management platform, adding CarbonMonitor to support emission monitoring and reporting, and, earlier this year, launching CarbonContracts for the management of carbon contracts and their financial performance.

Robert Dornau, CEO, said, “The management team is excited to work in this new entity. We are highly motivated to continue developing and hosting leading software solutions for the carbon market. The new organization will allow us to restructure our business model. We will provide very attractive entry-level software access as well as tailored enterprise solutions. We will continue to be a market leader in carbon management software. In particular, we look forward to upcoming releases of new products for Programs of Activity (PoAs), the CDM’s recent small scale carbon project solution.”

Gerry Langeler, Managing Director, OVP Venture Partners, an early stage investor in Carbonflow Corp. noted: “Europe continues to dominate the carbon market. We are delighted the new management team is moving forward and continuing to grow their share of this important market. ”

Carbonflow’s key clients and development partners, including GDF Suez, SGS and others were supportive of the management buyout.

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June 1, 2011, Barcelona, Spain: Today, Carbonflow® Corp. announced a partnership with Climate Focus, an advisory company committed to the development of policies and projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The two companies will collaborate to provide users of Carbonflow’s CarbonContracts software with access to legal advisory services related to emission reduction purchase agreements (ERPAs) and other carbon offset contracts.

Carbon contracts are heavily reliant on the ongoing performance of their underlying emission reduction projects. These projects may produce emission reduction credits for decades. As a result, contracts often have a long life span and are sensitive to changes in personnel, financial markets, and government regulations. Carbonflow and Climate Focus will work to find innovative ways to insure that CarbonContracts clients have access to best practices and consistent legal advice as the carbon market continues to evolve.

Carbonflow’s CarbonContracts software manages the complete life cycle of emission reduction purchase agreements. The product spans due diligence, contract negotiation, portfolio management, reporting, and renewal. It includes sophisticated risk modeling and scenario planning software to help clients optimize the value they realize from generating and trading emission reduction credits.

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June 1, 2011, Barcelona, Spain : Today, Carbonflow® Corp. announced the availability of a new module in its suite of hosted software designed to manage, monitor, and monetize emission reduction projects. CarbonContracts manages the complete life cycle of emission reduction purchase agreements (ERPAs) and other carbon offset contracts for both sellers and buyers. The software spans due diligence, contract negotiation, portfolio management, reporting, and renewal. The product includes sophisticated risk modeling and scenario planning software to help clients optimize the value they realize from generating and trading emission reduction credits.

The initial release of the software supports both emission reduction and third-party contracts related to more than 8,500 projects in registration or in the pipeline this year under the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism, regional, bi-lateral, national, and voluntary standards. CarbonContracts is initially available in English, and will support additional languages, including Chinese and Portuguese, later in the year.

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May 24, 2011, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.: Carbonflow® announced today the immediate availability of its first online training course “Managing Emission Reduction Projects with Connect+,” the company’s software for managing carbon emission reduction projects.  The course is the first module in a curriculum of self-paced online courses that supplement the company’s existing instructor-led training.

“Managing Emission Reduction Projects with Connect+,” consists of 13 integrated modules that cover the complete process of building projects that comply with major carbon standards. Modules cover topics such as Connect+™ capabilities, account setup, creating a project and team, communicating with the team, managing workflow, and improving the performance of projects using the software.

Connect+ is Carbonflow’s patent-pending, cross-organization, multi-party project collaboration engine. Connect+ saves time and money by putting all decision makers on the same secure, browser-based platform. Connect+ increases efficiency, transparency, and timeliness of project implementation and management, from project design, validation and registration to monitoring, verification and issuance. Connect+ offers a solution to all parties involved in a carbon project and supports the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), and Climate Action Reserve (CAR) methodologies.

Today, organizations manage hundreds of emission reduction projects using Connect +. To help accelerate usage of the software, Carbonflow is offering the training for free on its website until the end of June 2011. Anyone may access the training, even those who are not licensed users of the product.

Jim Beagle, EVP of Global Sales and Services, said, “While there is a rush to get emission reduction projects registered the backlog of unregistered projects continues to grow longer. With the free offer of training, we hope to demonstrate how Connect+ can cut the time and cost of registering projects and getting credits issued.”

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