Bloomberg News just released some comments from Richard Sandor, owner of the Chicago and London Climate Exchange:

World Carbon-Dioxide Market to Reach $20 Trillion, Sandor Says

By Jim Efstathiou Jr.

May 30 (Bloomberg) — The world market for carbon-dioxide emissions may be worth as much as $20 trillion a year within a decade, according to Richard Sandor, chairman of Climate Exchange Plc, owner of emissions markets in London and Chicago.

“There’s 30 billion tons emitted worldwide,” Sandor said in an interview. “We’re talking about a market that will be trillions and trillions of dollars, some estimate as much as $10 to $20 trillion in the next five to 10 years.”

Carbon dioxide is the main gas blamed for global warming that is causing Arctic ice to melt and rain to decline in parts of Africa and the Mediterranean, United Nations-sponsored researchers said in 2007. Carbon permits trade in Europe, Canada and in the U.S. on Climate Exchange’s Chicago Climate Exchange.

Emissions markets aim to lower costs for utilities and manufacturers by allowing polluters to trade credits that can be used to meet curbs on greenhouse gases. The Chicago exchange is a voluntary program. Congress next week will begin debate on legislation that sets mandatory greenhouse-gas limits.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jim Efstathiou Jr. in New York at jefstathiou@bloomberg.net.