The global carbon market has grown by 80 per cent in the past year to over €40bn, according to a report released late last week.

The research by independent analysis and consulting firm Point Carbon found that the value of officially certified carbon dioxide and pollution credits traded shot to €40.4bn (£58.3bn) during 2007 - up from €22.5bn the year before.

The increase was driven by a greater global awareness of and concern for climate change issues, which have been propelled to the front of the political agenda, the report said.

Point Carbon claims the growth also indicates a growing enthusiasm amongst companies and investors to take part in the carbon trading industry.

"The 2007 numbers show that greenhouse gas emission trading has become a commodity market in its own right," said Endre Tvinnereim, a Point Carbon senior analyst. "The remarkable growth in the secondary CDM [UN Clean Development Mechanism] market shows companies are ready to invent new, creative tools for managing carbon constraints."

Some 2.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide credits were traded during the year - up 64 per cent on 2006.

Most of the trading took place through the European Union's cap-and-trade emissions trading scheme (ETS), where €28bn worth of credits changed hands. The UN's CDM trading scheme where certified emission reduction projects in emerging economies sell carbon credits accounted for a further €12bn.

The research came however as prices of ETS credits today fell over 10 per cent in early trading, reaching a five month low as the financial turmoil experienced over the past few days on the world's stock markets spilled over into the carbon market.