As the World Cup produces memorable plays and drama, the 32-day soccer extravaganza being staged in Brazil also has generated prodigious carbon emissions from a surge in plane flights, vehicle trips, electricity consumption and more. But as of June 24, private companies had already offset 39.5% of the estimated 1.4 million tons in direct and indirect carbon emissions expected here as a result of the World Cup. They did so, Brazil’s Environment Ministry says, by donating carbon-reduction credits known as CERs under the Kyoto Protocol climate treaty’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The CDM allows companies and governments in developed nations subject to Kyoto emissions limits to earn partial credit toward their targets by sponsoring carbon-reduction projects in developing countries. But some companies... [Log in to read more]