A professional association of senior executives responsible for climate change and energy is to launch in the U.S. within the next year, Carbon Finance reported on January 7.

Provisionally called the Association of Corporate Climate Change Officers, the organisation will focus on developing a certification standard for climate change officers, better defining those roles.

Two high profile environmental lawyers are behind the new association, which will host a founding meeting in Washington DC on January 12. Among those signed up to attend reportedly are Brokerage Evolution Markets, the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and utility Pepco Energy Services.