Mexico, the world’s 15th biggest greenhouse gas emitter – and ravaged by its worst drought in 80 years – is close to passing legislation to create a domestic greenhouse gas emissions trading system able to cap and cut carbon emissions.

After easy passage in the upper house of congress in December with an overwhelming majority, the General Law on Climate Change will now be debated by its 500-member Chamber of Deputies, according to Point Carbon.

Mexico is bordering California, whose own carbon market is set to begin later in 2012. It is expected that the bill will enable international transactions with carbon markets with which Mexico has established bilateral agreements, such as the United States

Its climate bill would centralize all matters related to addressing climate change by creating a federal climate commission, which would be in charge of formulating and implementing national climate change policies and be tasked with establishing the technical and legal basis of a domestic carbon market and a corresponding body to regulate it.

Mexico is one of eight countries that received funding from the World Bank to help prepare for a carbon market, under an initiative launched at the international climate talks in Cancun in December 2010. Eventually 15 countries will receive this assistance.

Each of the first eight got an initial grant of $US350,000 to help think through and plan how they will design, pilot, and eventually implement market-based instruments for greenhouse gas mitigation.

Mexico – along with Chile, China, Columbia, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Thailand, and Turkey, the first eight – will now develop a “Market Readiness Proposal” that will detail how their cap & trade market will be set up to cut the rise in greenhouse gases that is causing climate destabilization.

Among the countries wanting to set up cap & trade, Mexico is not the only one already facing the dire effects of climate change.

A drowned Bangkok had Thai legislators confronting the extraordinary idea of having to move its capital city of 17 million,(Bangkok Becomes First Megacity to Mull Move to Higher Ground) and Chile faces mass starvation as its glaciers are drying up.

Indonesia bears the brunt of more powerful typhoons (hurricanes) and China has drought drying out its interior, and crippling pollution. Mexico’s drought has mirrored Texas’ on the other side of the border.

Texas is praying for relief. But God helps those who help themselves: these nations are moving to implement climate legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with a market mechanism that has been proven to work.