The World Bank announced on Friday, April 21, that its Prototype Carbon Fund, a carbon emissions trading fund, has been experienced incredible success. With nine additional companies interested in subscribing, the bank is considering raising the cap. The fund was established to help finance renewable energy projects that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries, but that would not be profitable without financial support.
Investors receive credits based on the emissions saved by implementing the projects they finance.
The role of the World Bank is to negotiate a price between buyers and sellers of credits. Provisions in the Kyoto Protocol as to how emissions trading could be used to meet reductions criteria remain unclear. In response to this trend, the USDA Forest Service has published a climate change atlas, charting the effects of climate change on 80 species of trees found in forests of the eastern United States. The report found between four and eight of the 80 species could have their suitable habitat shift entirely into Canada. Many more will experience habitat shifts of 100 km or more.