The International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) has published recommendations ahead of further negotiations of carbon markets rules under Articles 6.2 and 6.4 of the Paris Agreement. It suggested parties should consider impact on investment certainty when negotiating further guidance on Article 6 rulebook authorisation matters, noting that badly designed rules would increase risks for project developers and investors, resulting in lower investment flows into mitigation activities. The IETA also recommended that authorisations be provided as early as possible and streamlined by adopting standard procedures, forms and templates. In addition, it said any new guidance under Article 6.2 or 6.4 should not negatively impact existing cooperative approaches and authorisations. “In case no agreement on the guidance for these topics can be reached, we urge countries engaging in Article 6 to address these issues in national legislation and the rules of specific cooperative approaches,” the IETA wrote. “Authorisation is the basis for the international compliance carbon market under the Paris Agreement – it is necessary for an emission reduction or removal to become an Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcome (ITMO) that can be used towards NDCs [nationally determined contributions] or Other International Mitigation Purposes (OIMP).” This guidance follows the collapse of Article 6 negotiations at COP28 in Dubai last year, which meant that no finalised guidance was adopted at the time. Several points of contention across Article 6.2 and 6.4 are to be discussed at COP29 next month, including process of authorisation, transparency and timing.
