Just three months have passed since the official start of the EU emissions trading scheme, and it is already being eyed favourably by hedge funds as a potential space to invest, being far less crowded, and having more growth potential, than traditional fixed income or equity markets.

“The scope for the carbon market to embrace the characteristics of a financial trading market is considerable,” says Manfred Wiegand, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ global utilities leader.

As well as “vanilla” carbon