Article 6 of the Paris Agreement

Article 6 of the Paris Agreement allows countries to cooperate voluntarily in meeting their climate commitments, called nationally determined contributions (NDCs). It provides two routes for international transfers of mitigation outcomes and a framework for non-market cooperation. Such cooperation must promote sustainable development, environmental integrity and higher mitigation and adaptation ambition.

Article 6.2: Country-led cooperative approaches

Article 6.2 provides an accounting framework for cooperative approaches involving internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs). Countries can agree to transfer mitigation outcomes so that another country can use them towards its NDC.

• Participating countries must authorise the use of transferred outcomes and ensure transparency, environmental integrity and robust accounting.
• Corresponding adjustments prevent double counting: a mitigation outcome transferred for another country's use cannot also count towards the transferring country's climate target.
• This is a decentralised cooperation route, rather than a single UN-operated crediting mechanism; it can support bilateral agreements and links between carbon-pricing systems.

Article 6.4: A centrally supervised crediting mechanism

Article 6.4 establishes a mechanism under the authority and guidance of the meeting of Parties to the Paris Agreement, supervised by a designated Supervisory Body. It credits verified emission reductions from eligible activities under common international rules.

• Public and private entities may participate with authorisation from the relevant country, while activities must contribute to mitigation and sustainable development.
• Credits authorised for use towards another country's NDC require corresponding adjustments; not every credit issued under the mechanism is automatically authorised for international use.
• The mechanism must deliver overall mitigation in global emissions, rather than merely offsetting emissions elsewhere.
• A share of proceeds supports administrative expenses and assists particularly vulnerable developing countries in meeting adaptation costs.

Article 6.8: Non-market approaches

Article 6.8 recognises integrated, holistic and balanced non-market approaches to help countries implement their NDCs. Unlike the trading routes, these approaches do not depend on transferring tradable mitigation outcomes.

• Cooperation may involve mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology transfer and capacity-building, as appropriate.
• The framework seeks to strengthen coordination and enable cooperation across instruments and institutional arrangements.