Prepared for the Bonn Climate Change Conference 8 – 18 May 2017

Carbon Market Watch welcomes the opportunity to provide input to the discussions on matters relating to Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

Years of stalled negotiations leading up to Paris Agreement unexpectedly delivered a strong provision for markets in the Agreement’s Article 6, alongside provisions for non-market approaches. Now, in elaborating the rules, modalities, and procedures for Article 6, it is imperative that Parties learn from past experiences with international climate cooperation, especially the Kyoto Protocol, and integrate provisions to ensure environmental integrity, foster sustainable development, and protect human rights in the future international market regime.

Cooperative approaches (Art. 6 (1-3))

• Establish robust rules for linking Emission Trading Systems
• Establish robust accounting rules to prevent double counting and generation of future “hot air”
• Ensure transparency and good governance
• Ensure social and environmental integrity

SDM (Art.6 (4-7))

• Design the SDM as a tool for results based finance
• Ensure environmental integrity, contribute to transformational change, and avoid perverse incentives that undermine ambition
• Define, monitor, report and verify real, measurable and long-term sustainable development and mitigation benefits
• Establish a robust SDM oversight body
• Establish an institutional grievance process
• Ensure effective public and local stakeholder participation
• Adapt, reform and build on beneficial existing CDM infrastructure

Framework for non-market mechanisms (Art. 6 (8-9))

• Ensure transparency and good governance
• Ensure social and environmental integrity
• Ensure contribution to sustainable development
• Uphold human rights

Read the full recommendations here