The 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) has brought together global leaders, policymakers, and stakeholders to address pressing environmental issues. One crucial topic under discussion is Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which aims to facilitate international cooperation in achieving climate goals by establishing mechanisms for carbon markets and voluntary cooperation. However, negotiations surrounding Article 6 have faced challenges, particularly in relation to Article 6.4, which focuses on the sustainable development of host countries.
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What Is Article 6 of the Paris Agreement?
The Paris Agreement, signed at COP21 in Paris, stands as a landmark international accord aimed at combatting climate change and achieving a sustainable future for our planet. It sets out a framework for limiting global warming to below 1.5C or at least “well below 2C” above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. The agreement also asks countries to become carbon neutral by no later than the second half of this century. Global temperatures have already risen by a little more than 1C (2F) since 1880 and predictions for 2 degrees of warming or more would have catastrophic environmental, social, and economic impacts.
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Within the Paris agreement, Article 6 holds significant importance, as it focuses on fostering international cooperation and collaboration to enhance climate action and achieve the goals outlined in the agreement. It provides a framework for countries to voluntarily collaborate and implement market-based approaches to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and promote sustainable development.
Key Components of Article 6
1. Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs)
Article 6.2 establishes a mechanism for countries to voluntarily transfer their emission reduction outcomes to other countries. This allows nations with a surplus of emission reductions to sell their excess units to countries in need, encouraging cooperation and emission reductions at a global scale.
2. Cooperative Approaches
Article 6.2 also enables countries to engage in cooperative approaches, such as emissions trading or project-based cooperation, allowing countries to collaborate on emission reduction projects and initiatives, promoting the transfer of clean technologies and fostering sustainable development.
3. Sustainable Development Mechanism (SDM)
Article 6.4 establishes the SDM, which builds upon the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. The SDM aims to incentivize emission reduction projects in developing countries while promoting sustainable development co-benefits. It provides a framework for the implementation of projects that contribute to both climate action and sustainable development goals.
Article 6 at COP28
A key issue of COP28 in Dubai is Article 6, due to its importance in operationalizing and implementing the market and non-market mechanisms outlined in the agreement. The summit provides an opportunity for countries to negotiate and finalize the rules and modalities for the effective implementation of the article, including issues related to accounting, transparency, and governance. These rules will provide a clear framework for countries to participate in market-based mechanisms and cooperative approaches.
Negotiations will also focus on establishing robust rules for the accounting of emissions reductions, avoiding double counting, ensuring environmental integrity, and promoting transparency in emissions trading systems as well as on the operationalization of the SDM, defining eligibility criteria, governance structures, and financing mechanisms and ensuring that it effectively contributes to both climate action and sustainable development goals.
Challenges
Finalizing the rules and modalities for Article 6 at COP28 faces several key challenges.
One of the main challenges is developing robust accounting rules that ensure the accurate tracking and accounting of emission reductions as well as establishing transparent and reliable accounting methodologies that are acceptable to all parties. Indeed, countries have different capacities, historical responsibilities, and development priorities, which must be considered to ensure a just distribution of benefits and burdens. Balancing the interests of developed and developing countries in terms of access to market mechanisms, financial support, and technology transfer is another key challenge in the negotiations.
“There is a risk that methodologies developed under 6.4 will be too political. Specifically that some methodologies will have to be revisited too often, or that credits will be ‘temporary,’ as was the case under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM),” said Jos Cozijnsen, a former Dutch negotiator now serving as a carbon specialist with the Carbon Neutral Group.
“They may also decide that carbon removals have to be additional to Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets instead of recognized as a tool for meeting NDCs, and this could delay action on removals, where companies invest in a lot these days, and incentivize countries to make less ambitious commitments,” he added.
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