One mechanism for developed countries to reduce emissions is to buy savings that less industrialised or developing countries make by operating energy efficient or eco-friendly projects.
Each tonne of carbon dioxide that is not emitted – called carbon credits - is currently being traded at anywhere between seven to ten dollars on the world market for carbon.
Six Sri Lankan projects are already cashing in on their greenhouse gas savings, made by running environmentally friendly hydropower, wood power plants, biomass and activated carbon projects.
Among Sri Lanka's top companies involved in carbon trading are conglomerate Hayleys, Tokyo Cement and clusters of mini-hydro power developers.
"Six projects have been approved for carbon trading over the past four years. This includes nine mini-hydro projects that were c