COP28 brings progress on Article 6

Talks focus on two key provisions to Paris Agreement rules allowing international trade in emission reductions

Delegates to the COP28 UN climate talks in Dubai made important progress on agreeing rules on international trading of emissions reductions under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Draft texts were released for Article 6.2 and 6.4, the two main provision of Article 6, which allows countries to trade emission reductions rather than only achieving reductions domestically. Potential cost reductions achievable through Article 6 could exceed $300b/yr in 2030, compared with the use by countries of solely domestic reductions, according to a study in the journal Climate Change Economics. But in the eight years since the Paris Agreement, neither of the two main provisions have been put into operation.