New York Mercantile Exchange parent Nymex Holdings Inc. and a group of Wall Street trading houses plan to launch an exchange for trading carbon emissions and other environmental products. Dubbed the Green Exchange, it will offer environmental futures, options, and swaps contracts, marking the latest effort to push into this emerging business.

The new exchange will provide tools for traders and companies to bet on the cost of carbon emissions while also letting emitters store carbon “credits.” Trading is scheduled to begin in the first quarter next year.