Article 6

Overview

Article 6 of the Paris Agreement sets out provisions for cooperative approaches among Parties to achieve their nationally determined contributions (NDCs), including through international carbon markets and other forms of cooperation.

Key Components

• Article 6.2 – Cooperative Approaches
  • Allows countries to transfer Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) between Parties.
  • Requires robust accounting rules (corresponding adjustments) to avoid double counting.
• Article 6.4 – UN Crediting Mechanism (Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism)
  • Establishes a new UN-supervised mechanism to register mitigation activities and issue units.
  • Successor, in some respects, to the CDM, but with stronger sustainable development and overall mitigation objectives.
• Article 6.8 – Non-market Approaches
  • Provides a framework for non-market forms of cooperation (e.g., policy cooperation, finance, technology transfer).

Role in Climate Finance & Carbon Markets

• Provides the legal and accounting framework for international compliance-oriented carbon transactions under the Paris Agreement.
• Interacts with the voluntary carbon market, as countries and private actors consider how voluntary credits and ITMOs might or might not be used together.

Use in this Brain

• Anchor node for linking:
  • Country-level cooperative approaches and bilateral deals
  • Interactions between voluntary crediting standards (Verra, Gold Standard) and Article 6 rules
  • MDB and DFI-supported programmes that rely on Article 6-based finance.