Article 6 Pipeline

Article 6 of the Paris Agreement provides a framework for countries to cooperate towards the implementation of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) through carbon markets (Articles 6.2 and 6.4) and non-market modalities (Article 6.8). These cooperative approaches can help countries to achieve and enhance their NDC targets. The overall objective is to increase climate ambition, promote sustainable development, and safeguard environmental integrity.

Building on the extensive experience from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), as a first step, UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre (UNEP-CCC) has set up an Excel-based database for Article 6 activities. The aim is to provide insights on the development of Article 6 projects, their contribution to countries’ NDC implementation and SDG achievement at the national and global level. Find a short video introducing this work here.

UNEP-CCC will continue expanding this pipeline’s functionality as new Article 6 projects emerge and the modalities become clearer. Ultimately, the pipeline will take the shape of a more interactive and user-friendly platform. This will provide transparency and allow users to easily explore information on cooperation under Article 6. Additional background on projects potentially transitioning to the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) under Article 6.4 Mechanism can be found in the CDM Pipeline and on the UNFCCC website.

CDM activities that are eligible and have requested transition to the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (Article 6.4)

The deadline for submitting requests has passed. In this explainer video, we examine those activities that intend to transition using CDM methodologies and outline the next steps.

Video on the CDM Transition (08:30 minutes) – find the slide deck here

As of 7 October 2024, transition requests were correctly submitted for 1,359 Project Activities (PA), 118 Programmes of Activities (PoA), and (together with these PoAs) 949 Component Project Activities (CPA) (see the figure below). Update: The first Parties approved the transition of some CDM activities. This includes five PA, three PoA, and 57 CPA hosted in either Bhutan, Myanmar or the Dominican Republic.

As of May, amendments for resubmissions were initiated for an additional 96 transition requests. For another 223 PA and PoA, there was no further communication with the UNFCCC after submitting the original request. For these 319 projects and programmes, authorized entities now have until 4 November 2024 to submit the corrected documentation. After this, the list of potentially transitioning activities is final.

Of the potential reductions of around 1.5 billion tonnes of CO2e that eligible activities could generate after transition while using CDM methodologies, this could amount to more than 900 million tonnes (60%).

For more details (such as submissions by host countries, regions, and activity types) please refer to the sheet Analysis | PACM in the A6 Pipeline.

Summary of the Article 6 Pipeline’s other components:

Overview of the Bilateral Agreements and pilot projects/activities under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement

The table below provides an overview of Bilateral Agreements (BA) for the cooperation under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement as of 7 October 2024. This also includes memoranda of understanding (MoU) or other official statements that show the intention to collaborate and potentially engage in trading of mitigation outcomes under Article 6.

There are 91 BAs between 56 different countries
A total of 141 pilot projects have been recorded, out of which 119 belong to Japan’s Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM).

Out of 141 pilot projects, 5 have Authorization Statements. The involved countries – Ghana (3x), Switzerland (4x), Thailand, Vanuatu – also submitted Initial Reports to the UNFCCC. The total expected amount of Mitigation Outcomes from these projects are:

Promotion of climate smart agriculture practices for sustainable rice cultivation in Ghana (Ghana-Switzerland | Authorized Reductions: 1,126 ktCO2e)
Bangkok E-Bus Program (Thailand-Switzerland | 500)
Electrification of Vanuatu’s Inhabited Islands through Solar Power ITMO Programme (Vanuatu-Switzerland | 97)
Integrated waste recycling and composting for methane reduction in Ghana (Ghana-Switzerland | 1,589)
Transformative Cookstove Activity in Rural Ghana (Ghana-Switzerland | 3,231)

On 15 December 2023, the first ever issuance of 1,916 ITMOs (Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes) occurred for the E-Bus Program in Bangkok covering the period from October to December 2022. This transaction between Thailand and Switzerland is the first under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement.

Notifications of Prior Consideration

As part of the Article 6.4 Activity Cycle, project proponents need to submit prior consideration notifications. This is to demonstrate that the benefits of participating in the mechanism were taken into account before implementing the activity. Until 7 October 2024, a total of 621 notifications were submitted and published (Prior consideration notifications | UNFCCC). The interactive graph below shows the geographical distribution of the proposed activities – a more detailed analysis of these submissions will follow.

Designated National Authorities for the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) under Article 6.4

Based on the last update on 26 September 2024, 95 Parties communicated their Designated National Authority (DNA) to the UNFCCC secretariat. More than two-thirds of all Parties across Africa (39 countries | 72%) have submitted information about their DNA, followed by Asia (26 | 54%) and the Americas (16 | 46%). Regular updates can be found here: Designated National Authority for Article 6.4 Mechanism | UNFCCC.

Monthly News on the Article 6 Pipeline:

The September 2024 version of the Excel-based Article 6 Pipeline includes the following updates:

Seven additional Parties submitted information on their Designated National Authorities (DNAs): Egypt, Honduras, Kenya, Mali, Oman, Palau, and Switzerland
Bhutan and Mali provided information on sustainable development impacts and types of activities that would be considered for the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) in their forms on the Participation Requirements.
Bhutan gave its approval for the transition of all three CDM projects that requested it.
Three additional transition requests were published for projects from Georgia, India, and South Africa.
More than 400 additional Notifications of Prior Consideration from activity proponents who intend to participate in the PACM were published by the UNFCCC and integrated into the database (for a total of 621).
Inclusion of one MoU between Rwanda and Sweden.
Two projects for bilateral cooperation were added. One activity, based in Ghana and supported by Sweden, aims to install rooftop solar combined with battery storage. Another project sets out to facilitate the uptake of electric cars in Senegal. Two other projects no longer listed by the KliK Foundation were removed from the database.