Researchers develop Article 6 'methodology tools'

Researchers develop Article 6 'methodology tools'

Published date: 11 March 2022

Researchers around Zurich-based Perspectives Climate Research are developing "methodology tools" to align existing baseline and monitoring methodologies of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) with Article 6 of the Paris climate agreement.

Researchers are co-operating on the "International Initiative for Development of Article 6 Methodology Tools" (II-AMT) co-ordinated by Perspectives Climate Research founder Axel Michaelowa to add to existing CDM methodologies in a "modular" way. The II-AMT is currently in its "conceptualisation" phase from January to April 2022.

The tools developed under the II-AMT would reflect the new principles and requirements under the Paris climate agreement by addressing issues such as taking existing and planned national mitigation policies into account, or ensuring the agreement is aligned with countries' nationally determined contribution (NDC) targets.

The UN's Cop 26 climate conference last year saw the agreement of Article 6 rules, including against double counting of emission reductions and on a government-to-government market. Article 6 also allows private entities to buy carbon credits from other countries. Such transfers can be authorised by the government hosting the emissions-cutting project, which is then responsible for making corresponding adjustments in its national inventory. Under the rules, international co-operation under Article 6 should build on experience from Kyoto protocol mechanisms including the CDM.

The several hundred existing CDM methodologies should not be simply discarded, Michaelowa said. Even if sufficient funding were available, it would take years to develop Article 6 methodologies "from scratch", leading to a gap in implementation.

"We want to bridge the ‘valley of death' for international carbon markets by providing pragmatic, yet highly credible tools to kickstart Article 6," Michaelowa said.

Once the tools are finalised — expected to be by early 2023 — they will be made available to governments and other actors involved in Article 6 activities. They will provide practical guidance on how to determine the additionality of Article 6 activities, set a robust crediting baseline, monitor, report and verify emissions, and identify and report on contributions to the host country NDC and long-term strategy.

For some CDM project types, the result of applying the tool may be that the activity is no longer considered additional, or the crediting baseline is set in a manner that no credits can be earned.

The II-AMT is financially supported by the Swedish Energy Agency, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Japan's environment ministry and the African Development Bank.

By Chloe Jardine