"The program provides options for sound measurement and allows members to take action to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions," said Thelma Krug, secretary of climate change, Brazil Environment Ministry.

The founding members of the Brazil GHG Protocol Program include: Alcoa, Anglo American, Arcelor Mittal, Banco do Brasil, Bradesco, CNEC, Copel, Ford, Grupo Abril, Natura, Nova Petroquimica, O Boticario, Petrobras, Sadia, Votorantim and Wal-Mart Brasil.

The emission information will be available to the public online, and participants will log their annual inventories of global-warming emissions and will receive training on international best practices in GHG accounting and management.

Brazil's emissions are the fifth-highest in the world, but as a developing country, Brazil has no obligation under the Kyoto Protocol. In a report released in April, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted that "by mid-century, increases in temperature and associated decreases in soil water are projected to lead to gradual replacement of tropical forest by savanna in eastern Amazonia."

The World Resources Institute and World Business Council for Sustainable Development partnered with the government to launch the new program.