Power Engineering - Natsource expands Canadian operations with acquisition of strategic firm GCSI

June 26, 2002 -- Natsource® LLC announced recently it has agreed to acquire GCSI - Global Change Strategies International, Inc., an Ottawa, Ontario-based firm specializing in global climate change issues.

GCSI will join the Strategic Services Group at Natsource, which currently has offices in London; New York; Tokyo; and Washington, D.C.

The acquisition is part of Natsource's diversification plans and strengthens the firm's global capacity to provide strategic services and asset and portfolio management in addition to its energy and environmental brokerage practice. GCSI will bolster Natsource's presence in Canada that already includes operations in Toronto and Calgary.

"GCSI has significant expertise on global environmental issues that are confronting Canadian governments and corporations," said Jack Cogen, president of Natsource. "This acquisition will allow Natsource to assist its clients develop robust responses to the climate issue and have the most up to date information on Canadian policy development."

GCSI clients have included: multinational companies such as The Royal Dutch/Shell Group; Canadian corporations such as Ontario Power Generation and Suncor; international agencies such as the World Bank, the UN Conference on Trade and Development, and the NAFTA Commission for Environmental Cooperation; and governmental agencies in Canada, Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean.

GCSI's expertise emphasizes climate change with a focus on analysis of environmental policy and regulation, corporate strategy development, crisis and risk management, energy technology development, and international law and negotiations.

"With Canada poised to decide whether to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, corporations and governments will need to evaluate their options for managing their emissions", said Doug Russell, president of GCSI. "A solid understanding of policy development and the evolving market is essential to designing responses that meet economic and environmental objectives. We look forward to leveraging Natsource's global resources in the emerging carbon market in Canada."

Founded in 1996, GCSI is headquartered in Ottawa, with a presence in Edmonton, Toronto, and Vancouver. GCSI will continue to serve its global client base, as well as assist Natsource clients with issues relating to the Canadian marketplace. GCSI's principal, Doug Russell, co-headed Canada's negotiating team on the climate change issue from 1993 to 1996.

Natsource® LLC is a provider of strategic advisory, brokerage, and asset and portfolio management services for energy related products in emissions allowance, power, natural gas, coal, and weather hedging markets. Natsource is headquartered in New York and has global reach in all of the world's major financial centers.

GCSI - Global Change Strategies International, Inc. provides strategic advice to industry and governments on global environmental issues, with a particular emphasis in climate change. GCSI's staff and senior associates blend scientific, technological, economic, policy and business expertise to meet the specific needs of their Canadian and global client base.

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