Using Market-Based Cooperation to Foster Ambition

How Germany could use Article 6  of the Paris Agreement to raise climate ambition

  • News 07.02.2023

In order to keep the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 within reach and curb climate change, global greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced drastically and rapidly. Ambition levels are, however, nowhere near what is needed to achieve these targets. International cooperation might help in closing this ambition gap. One option for the voluntary cooperation among Parties has been introduced with Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, that allows Parties to engage in cooperative approaches and transfer emission reductions internationally.

The Discussion Paper "Using Article 6.2 to foster ambition" explores possible uses of Article 6.2 by Germany beyond the attainment of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). Nicolas Kreibich, Senior Researcher in the Global Climate Governance Research Unit at the Wuppertal Institute, and Martin Burian, Consultant at GFA Climate Competence Centre, analyse how Germany could use the cooperative approaches of the Paris Agreement to raise climate ambition. The authors explore different options to use Art. 6.2 for compliance as well as voluntary purposes. They find that using Article 6.2 for compliance purposes is fraught with challenges for Germany. Using Article 6.2 for voluntary purposes, in turn, may yield strong ambition raising impacts. The authors find that using Article 6 to mobilise private climate finance is particularly interesting, while using cooperative approaches to support actors from the voluntary carbon market in accessing high quality credits has been identified as another use option with significant potential. The researchers come to the conclusions that a combination of different use options within one cooperative approach could yield particularly strong ambition raising impacts.

The Discussion Paper has been published in the "Climate Change" series (01/2023) of the Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt, UBA) and can be downloaded free of charge under the link below.


Cookie Settings

Cookies help us to constantly improve the website for you. By clicking on the "Allow cookies" button, you agree to the use of cookies. For further information on the use of cookies or to change your settings, please click on More about the use and rejection of cookies.