As interest in carbon markets in Africa continue to rise, the sixtieth session of the subsidiary bodies (SB60) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) failed to reach agreement on all technicalities related to the implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, demonstrating the complex challenges of emissions trading. The methodological elements of the new UN carbon crediting mechanism also remained largely unresolved. Article 6 governs how countries can cooperate voluntarily in the implementation of their nationally determined contributions to climate action while promoting sustainable development and environmental integrity.
The SB60 negotiations on Articles 6.2 and 6.4 of the Paris Agreement focused on the technicalities of international carbon trade, particularly authorization and reporting on transaction, as well as the role of an international registry. The African Group of Negotiators on climate change (AGN) offered progressive solutions which can potentially break the impasse and link the voluntary trading schemes of Article 6.2 with authorization processes deriving from Article 6.4, and thus addressing many of the uncertainties of voluntary carbon trading.
