Understanding Article 6: Key Concepts Explained
Article 6 is a framework intended to aid countries in meeting and enhancing their climate change mitigation targets through international cooperation.
Setting the Scene: The Paris Agreement
The Paris Agreement (PA) represents a landmark treaty between developed and developing countries, committing to limit the increase in global temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius, and striving to cap it at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of this century. The agreement also sets forth the goal of reaching net-zero emission by 2050, i.e. a balance between greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals. This equilibrium is essential for realizing the established long-term temperature goals.
Under the Paris Agreement, each country – known as a signatory Party – must set forth its climate change mitigation and adaptation plans. These plans are referred to as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). NDCs are pivotal to the Agreement's structure, reflecting a country's commitment, capabilities, and ambition in addressing climate change with proactive mitigation and adaptation measures. They lay out a country-specific blueprint for advancing towards the temperature thresholds stipulated in the Agreement. Signatory Parties are expected to track their advancement towards these objectives and to continuously seek to escalate their climate action ambitions over time.
The Paris Agreement also encourages voluntary collaboration among countries to meet and increase their NDCs' ambition. These collaborative frameworks are encapsulated in Article 6.
To explore more about climate change international negotiations, visit this interactive timeline.
Article 6: cooperation pathways
Cooperation between Parties is voluntary. Three key approaches are outlined in Article 6:
Article 6.2
Also known as "cooperative approaches", Article 6.2 outlines a framework for market-based cooperation between two or more countries. It establishes accounting, tracking, and reporting requirements to be fulfilled by countries participating in a cooperative approach involving the generation, trade, and use of Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs).
It is important to note that countries decide what type of cooperation to pursue, e.g., by joining Emission Trading Systems, implementing specific mitigation activities, or through other mechanisms.
Article 6.4
Article 6.4 is crediting mechanism that constitutes a global carbon market (known as the Article 6.4 Mechanism) where Article 6.4 Emission Reductions (A6.4ERs) are generated and traded. This mechanism is overseen by the UNFCCC's Supervisory Body, which establishes the rules and requirements that mitigation activities need to comply with in order to issue carbon credits. It is the successor of the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol.
Article 6.8
This framework emphasizes technology and knowledge transfer. It focuses on non-market cooperation to unlock sustainable development benefits. Therefore, carbon credits are not generated and/or traded.
Why is Article 6 important?
With climate change being a global problem that requires immediate, ambitious international cooperation, Article 6 creates structures through which Parties can collaborate to meet and raise their NDC's ambition by unlocking additional mitigation.
Pertaining to host countries, Article 6 may also expand access to important technologies, attract investment, facilitate the transfer of technology, incentivize capacity-building and finance mitigation measures that would not otherwise be possible without international support.
Additional resources
The activities developed under this project will operate within the framework of Article 6.2. Therefore we elaborate further in the requirements and guidelines of Article 6.2, as adopted in UNFCCC negotiations. We have also curated key resources to support and build capacity for key stakeholders.