RIO DE JANEIRO, September 22, 2009 (AFP) - Brazilians have planted more than 3,000 trees in Rio de Janeiro to offset carbon dioxide emissions as the city goes green in its bid to host the 2016 summer Olympics.

Rio joins Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo as the cities that will learn their fate on October 2 when voting members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gather in Copenhagen to decide who will host the Games.

The city, known for its famed beaches, has launched a "Carbon Zero 2016" campaign, in which the saplings planted in Rio's Pedra Branca park aim to fully erase the carbon footprint of the city's Olympic bid team.

The newly-planted trees are supposed to neutralize the 716 tons of carbon it is estimated that the team will emit between September 2007 and October 2009, taking into account their travel, energy consumption, paper usage, even their meals.

"We will bring the 2016 Olympic Games to Rio and have an all-green competition," said Brazil's Environment Minister Carlos Minc.

On Tuesday, South America's largest country was marking World Car-Free Day, in which communities seek to take some of the heat off Mother Earth by focusing on cycling, walking and public transport instead of using automobiles.

As part of its Olympic bid, Brazil has committed to planting a total of three million trees between now and the start of the games, mostly in Rio's Tijuca Forest national park, the largest urban forest in the world.

To date, 105,000 trees have been planted across the state of Rio de Janeiro.