Lord Nicholas Stern, author of the UK's Stern report on climate change, will launch a new carbon credit ratings agency today, the first to score carbon credits on a similar basis to that used to rate debt.

Carbon credits have come under increasing fire as investors, academics and non-governmental organisations have complained that many lack credibility.

Recent studies have confirmed findings by the Financial Times last year that suggested as many as half of the carbon credits promised under the Kyoto protocol would fail to materialise. ... Read full article