ABN Amro launches climate change index

Dutch bank ABN Amro has released a Climate Change and Environment index, intended to give investors exposure to companies that will benefit from working to avoid global warming.

The index includes companies involved in renewable energy such as hydroelectric power, geothermal energy and solar power, which are all expected to profit from a shift away from fossil fuels. It also includes companies involved in water and waste management, and producers of platinum and palladium, which are used in catalytic converters.

Catalytic converters break down greenhouse gases in vehicle exhaust, such as methane and hydrocarbons, into carbon dioxide, which is a less potent greenhouse gas.

The bank already produces various more specific environmental indexes - on clean water, biofuels, renewable energy and other topics - and offers share baskets and total return index certificates based on them.

It has not so far announced any products based on the Climate Change & Environment index, but potential applications include tracking certificates, structured notes or a collateralised debt obligation based the companies in the index, ABN Amro said.

The index consists of 30 stocks selected by Standard & Poor's in the mining (10%), water and waste management (45%) and renewable energy (45%) sectors. It will be rebalanced every six months and is listed on Bloomberg.