Article 6 of the Paris Agreement at COP29

The document examines the three mechanisms of Article 6 (A6.2, A6.4, and A6.8) of the Paris Agreement, highlighting the tension between rapid operationalisation and the need for high-integrity standards to prevent greenwashing and human rights abuses. It details the specific sticking points for COP29, including transparency in bilateral trading (A6.2), the role of the Supervisory Body in the global market (A6.4), and the potential for non-market approaches (A6.8) to provide alternative climate finance. The briefing also analyzes the influence of these UN rules on the voluntary carbon market (VCM) and the controversies surrounding REDD+ credits and land-use offsets.

• Article 6 consists of three mechanisms: Article 6.2 for bilateral trading of Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs), Article 6.4 for a UN-governed global carbon market overseen by a Supervisory Body, and Article 6.8 for non-market approaches (NMA) such as technology transfer and development aid.
• Operational standards for Article 6.4 were adopted on the first day of COP29, a move criticized by observers as a "backdoor deal" that lacked sufficient time for transparency and debate.
• A significant risk for Article 6.2 is the lack of transparency, as countries currently have broad discretion to keep details of carbon trading confidential, including the quantity and type of offsets.
• The integrity of carbon markets is under severe scrutiny; a 2023 analysis indicated that 90% of Verra's rainforest carbon credits did not represent real emission reductions, and the overall value of the voluntary carbon market (VCM) shrank by 61% in one year after peaking in 2022 at over USD 2 billion.
• There is a critical 'land gap' where nature-based mitigation pledges in NDCs alone would require a land mass nearly four times the size of India, leading to concerns over indigenous land rights and ecosystem stability.
• The Coalition for Rainforest Nations (CfRN) is promoting the use of REDD+ 'sovereign' credits and has launched a for-profit spin-off, ITMO Ltd., to sell post-2020 RRUs as equivalent to A6.2 credits, despite concerns that such credits may lack additionality.
• A key environmental integrity win achieved during negotiations in Bonn in June 2024 was the decision that emissions avoidance will not be allowed under Article 6.2 or 6.4, with the issue not to be reopened until 2028.
• Article 6.4 includes a requirement to cancel 2% of credits for Overall Mitigation of Global Emissions (OMGE) and forward 5% to a global adaptation fund, making it more costly than the bilateral A6.2 mechanism.

APA

Team, Z. (2024). Article 6 of the Paris Agreement at COP29. Zero Carbon Analytics. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/policy/article-6-of-the-paris-agreement-at-cop29/

Chicago

Team, ZCA. Article 6 of the Paris Agreement at COP29. Zero Carbon Analytics, 2024. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/policy/article-6-of-the-paris-agreement-at-cop29/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Team |first1=ZCA |title=Article 6 of the Paris Agreement at COP29 |publisher=Zero Carbon Analytics |date=17 May 2024 |url=https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/policy/article-6-of-the-paris-agreement-at-cop29/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{team2024article, author = {Team, ZCA}, title = {{Article 6 of the Paris Agreement at COP29}}, institution = {Zero Carbon Analytics}, year = {2024}, month = may, url = {https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/policy/article-6-of-the-paris-agreement-at-cop29/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }