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The subsequent spherical of U.N. local weather talks, postponed from final yr due to the COVID-19 pandemic, begins on Oct. 31 in Glasgow, Scotland.
WHAT IS ARTICLE 6?
Article 6 of the Paris settlement seeks to set guidelines to strengthen the integrity of carbon markets and create a brand new international carbon offsetting mechanism.
Progress on agreeing these guidelines broke down on the final talks in 2019.
Carbon markets are seen by some as a possibility to decrease the price of decreasing greenhouse fuel emissions and allow international locations to decide to extra formidable targets. Others see them as a option to stall extra aggressive motion to fight emissions.
Carbon offsetting includes serving to to fund a lower in emissions elsewhere, by as an example stopping deforestation.
Nations that wrestle to satisfy their emissions discount targets of their nationwide local weather plans, or wish to pursue cheaper emissions cuts, can buy emissions reductions from different nations which have lower their emissions greater than the quantity they’d pledged, equivalent to by transferring to low-carbon power.
Article 6 is meant to offer an accounting framework for worldwide cooperation. It envisages linking the emissions buying and selling schemes of two or extra international locations and permits for the worldwide switch of carbon credit.
It additionally goals to ascertain a central U.N. mechanism to commerce carbon credit from emissions reductions generated from low-carbon initiatives.
For instance, one nation may pay one other to construct a renewable power challenge as an alternative of a coal plant. This would scale back emissions however permit the second nation to get the advantages from cleaner power.
WHY IS ARTICLE 6 IMPORTANT?
Getting stringent guidelines round market-based mechanisms is essential within the combat in opposition to local weather change due to the emissions reductions they will obtain and the associated fee financial savings they will generate, analysts say.
Many international locations’ nationwide local weather pledges hinge on using worldwide cooperation by way of carbon markets.
The Worldwide Emissions Buying and selling Affiliation says Article 6 has the potential to halve the price of implementing nationwide emissions targets, saving an estimated $250 billion a yr in 2030, and to facilitate the removing of round 5 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide a yr at no extra value.
However with out the best guidelines in place, Article 6 may weaken international locations’ local weather pledges and enhance emissions.
“Relying on how the principles are structured, Article 6 may assist the world keep away from harmful ranges of world warming…or let international locations off the hook from making significant emissions cuts,” mentioned Yamide Dagnet, director of local weather negotiations on the World Assets Institute.
“The integrity of the Paris Settlement and international locations’ local weather commitments hold within the steadiness,” she added.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE RESOLVED?
One of many European Union’s foremost considerations is how any emission reductions made through carbon markets can be accounted for.
The EU and different international locations wish to guarantee there isn’t any double counting, whereby the emission discount is counted each by the nation that has purchased the credit score and the nation the place the emission discount has taken place.
“The principle challenge is how carbon credit are utilized and accounted to satisfy nationwide emissions targets and to keep away from double counting, a difficulty that was flagged on the latest G7 summit,” Caroline Could, head of sustainability and setting for Europe, Center East and Asia at legislation agency Norton Rose Fulbright, mentioned.
Leaders of the G7 nations in June mentioned in a communique that they recognised the potential of “excessive integrity” carbon markets however stopped in need of addressing the problem of double counting.
“It’s hoped that negotiations in Glasgow will result in a last settlement being reached on this crucial challenge,” Could added.
Negotiators are additionally at odds over what to do with billions of carbon credit generated underneath the Clear Growth Mechanism, referred to as CERs, designed to assist international locations meet commitments underneath the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
Brazil, South Korea, China and India account for nearly 85% of all CERs issued so far.
Different international locations say that permitting these credit to be carried over would probably flood the market with credit for previous accomplishments and never advance future emissions reductions underneath the Paris Settlement.
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