Argus Media Limited

10/27/2021 | News release | Distributed by Public on 10/27/2021 10:22

German NGO calls for Article 6 'integrity'

Developed countries should only make use of emissions mitigation activities under Article 6 of the Paris climate agreement for emissions reductions going beyond their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the deal to ensure their integrity, environmental non-governmental organisation (NGO) Germanwatch said.

The EU could raise its greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target to 80pc in 2030 against 1990 levels from the existing 55pc target, and then try to plug the gap through Article 6 activities, Germanwatch said in a recent paper.

Conversely, developing countries hosting emissions mitigation activities should make use of them only for abatement going beyond the "low hanging fruits", Germanwatch said. "Market-ready" technologies should be excluded from Article 6 activities.

Germanwatch also rejects the carry-over of pre-2020 carbon certificates and projects from the Kyoto Protocol's clean development mechanism (CDM).

Germanwatch calls for conservative baselines, and an overall mitigation in global emissions (OMGE) of 30-50pc. OMGE refers to the percentage of emission reduction credits to be cancelled. This would mean that countries buying the reductions would be able to take credit for just 50-70pc of the emissions reductions they finance.

This is to ensure that trading certificates under Article 6 does not become a "zero sum game", either under Article 6.2, which governs emissions reduction trading between countries, or under Article 6.4's new mechanism enabling CO2-cutting projects to generate emissions-reduction credits, Germanwatch said.

The NGO said its calculation is based on the estimation that around 50pc of CDM projects were fully counted towards climate mitigation targets, while delivering only part or none of the additionally promised climate protection. Article 6 should not undermine the integrity of the Paris climate agreement as the CDM undermined the integrity of the Kyoto Protocol, Germanwatch said.

By Chloe Jardine