With the Kyoto Protocol now in force, Latin American countries are eager to see how strongly the climate-change treaty will spur carbon trading—the buying and selling of emissions-reduction credits. The protocol only limits greenhouse-gas emissions for the 37 developed nations that ratified the treaty. But it allows these countries and companies based in them to meet their targets in part by purchasing carbon credits from each other and—under a special program outlined in the protocol—from developing nations. It’s the trading of credits under this special program, called the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), that Latin governments hope will stimulate green investment in their countries. Emissions trading among Kyoto participants and the purchase of CDM credits both have accelerated since Russia... [Log in to read more]