Merrill Lynch stepped up its push into the carbon market yesterday with the launch of a new service designed to help firms reduce and offset their carbon emissions.

The investment bank has entered a partnership with consultancy ICF International designed to help customers identify and implement emission reduction strategies and procure "high quality" offsets where emissions can not be cut.

Offered under the banner Merrill Lynch Green & Gold, the new service will see ICF International provide carbon footprinting assessments and energy efficiency advice while Merrill Lynch will offer verified carbon credits that allow firms to offset their carbon emissions.

ICF said the service would be primarily focused on firms not affected by emissions regulations which are taking a voluntary approach to emissions reductions, including financial services firms, airlines and technology companies.

The new service comes a week after Merrill Lynch inked a deal with Australian firm Carbon Conservation to buy a minimum of $9m of carbon credits from a new avoided deforestation project in Indonesia. The company has identified carbon offsets as a major growth area and last year acquired a stake in Danish offset project firm Core Carbon Group.

The new service will be entering into an increasingly crowded market where carbon offset specialists and leading investment banks are all seeking to combine consultancy and offset services. Last year, Morgan Stanley teamed up with consultancy DNV to offer a similar advisory service, while JPMorgan underlined its interest in the sector last year with its acquisition of UK offset provider ClimateCare.