Points of Paris Climate Agreement on creating carbon markets confirmed at COP29 in Azerbaijan

BAKU. Nov 25 (Interfax) - The Azerbaijani presidency of COP29 has announced an agreement on establishing carbon markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The relevant parts of Article 6 were paragraph 6.2, on accounting for emissions reductions achieved through climate mitigation efforts between countries, and paragraph 6.4 on creating a mechanism for generating carbon credits without mandatory state-level agreements.

The decision was approved during a plenary session on Saturday evening.

"This was one of the key priorities of Azerbaijan's presidency, involving intensive technical and political negotiations with the parties. This strategy enabled a breakthrough in resolving longstanding deadlock, concluding the last unresolved issue of the Paris Agreement," the presidency said.

Article 6 could save up to $250 billion annually in implementing national climate plans, it said.

The decision ensures the establishment of high-quality and transparent carbon markets, allowing countries and companies to collaborate in achieving their climate goals, it said.

"The COP29 presidency urges parties to reinvest these savings into even greater climate ambitions. The next generation of nationally determined contributions to be submitted by February [2025] will be crucial for maintaining global hopes of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees. Today's milestone has come just in time to help countries adopt more ambitious commitments in their climate plans," it said.

The climate conferences in Glasgow and Sharm El Sheikh laid down important rules, conditions and procedures for carbon markets, but key elements of Article 6 remained unresolved, it said. Negotiations had stalled prior to COP29, leading to costly delays in fully utilizing this pathway for enhanced international climate cooperation.

"The decisions on Article 6 unanimously adopted today will play a key role in ensuring the environmental integrity, transparency, and reliability of carbon markets through real, additional, verified and measurable emissions reductions and absorption while unlocking their immense potential to drive global climate investments," it said.