Working in climate sometimes feel like a time-warp. As #COP29 in #Baku is kicking off, I'm sharing an update of one of my most read posts from last year:
✨ What is Article 6.4 and why am I excited about it.
First, the 30 second recap:
🌿 The Paris Agreement paved the way for a new era of carbon trading with the establishment of #Article6, which enables countries to collaborate in achieving their Nationally Determined Contributions #NDCs by trading mitigation outcomes.
🌿 At its best, A6 offers countries a way to invest in actions outside their borders and raise global ambition (as you know, even if everyone achieves their NDCs we will fall short of where we need to be).
🌿 However, this is only possible with clear and transparent accounting around what is traded and how countries plan to meet their NDCs.
Two articles were crafted to help countries use resources efficiently and maximize impact:
- - > Article 6.4 focuses on creating a global level international carbon market
- - > Article 6.2 focuses on enabling bilateral collaboration mechanisms for G2G, or G2B collaboration.
🌿 So how will it work? UN Climate Change will set up a shared marketplace for global climate projects. This will look like a digital registry where approved project developers “list” credits for purchase by governments.
We already have the VCM - why am I excited about 6.4?
🦎 An A6 marketplace can benefit from ambitious recent efforts such as the claims codes from VCMI determining what a 'credible corporate claim' is, as well as The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) principles for high-quality carbon credits
🦎 VCM is suffering from sitting between Paris and NetZero. What do I mean? Many VCM buyers are operating on a voluntary basis, out of good will. A6.4 moves us closer to a more regulated space (or one with potential for stronger accountability)
🦎 6.4 sets a high bar for environmental integrity, by requiring that all credits deliver an "overall mitigation in global emissions” (#OMGE) reducing the risk of fraudulent credits being listed.
🦎 It can help even the playing-field, empowering countries to have a stronger say in what types of projects are prioritized in their jurisdictions and how those proceeds are divided and allows them to trade reductions in carbon emissions in a manner that goes beyond zero-sum offsetting.
🐢 We had way less progress on 6.4 at COP28 in #Dubai than expected. Crossing fingers for a bit more clarity as we move into #Baku.
✨ For anyone interested in learning more about A6 - The Nature Conservancy published an excellent explainer. I still find the infographics some of the best for this space. Kudos to Svetoslav Gatchev Rachel Pasternack Maggie Stone Kelley Hamrick Malvar Naabia Ofosu-Amaah Beatriz Granziera Fernando Cesário Olga Gassan-zade Lucy Almond Samarrth Khanna Chandra Shekhar Sinha Leticia Guimaraes and John Verdieck Alexia Kelly Lydia Sheldrake Tomas Thyblad #carbon #carboncredits
