Article 6 of the Paris Agreement

Article 6 of the Paris Agreement

Subject – Environment

Context – Parties in Glasgow finally adopted the long pending Article 6 rulebook.

Concept –

• Article 6 of the Paris Agreement provides for market and nonmarket approaches in achieving Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
• On markets, Article 6 has been finally resolved in a balanced manner that takes into account the concerns of developing countries.
• India, along with other developing countries, managed to convince developed countries to agree for a transition of pre2020 projects/activities, and units from the Clean Development Mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol.
• The Article 6 market mechanisms will play a crucial role in driving investments from private and public enterprises into India and help us achieve our mitigation and adaptation targets.
• Under Article 6.2, India set the terms for accounting of units outside the NDC.
  • Our call for countries to have flexibility in defining what is inside and outside our country’s NDC was accepted, and corresponding adjustments based on the authorisation of projects helps us, as it gives us additional flexibility while maintaining the quality of units.
• Under Article 6.4, we were able to secure the transition of CDM projects, activities and units.
• Under Article 6.8, the adoption of work programme for nonmarket approaches will help developing countries in relation to, inter alia, mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology development and transfer, and capacity-building.

Global Environment Facility (GEF)

• The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a multilateral financial mechanism that provides grants to developing countries for projects that benefit the global environment and promote sustainable livelihoods in local communities.
• It was setup as a fund under World Bank in 1991
• In 1992, at the Rio Earth Summit, the GEF was restructured and moved out of the World Bank system to become a permanent, separate institution.
• Since 1994, however, the World Bank has served as the Trustee of the GEF Trust Fund and provided administrative services.
• GEF was re-established during the Rio Earth Summit of 1992.
• It is based in Washington, D.C., United States.
• The GEF is jointly managed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
• 183 nations are united under GEF in partnership with civil society organizations (CSOs), international institutions, private sector, etc. to address the environmental issues across the globe.
• It addresses six designated focal areas:
  • biodiversity,
  • climate change,
  • international waters,
  • ozone depletion,
  • land degradation and
  • Persistent Organic Pollutants.
• GEF also serves as a financial mechanism for the following conventions:
  • United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD)
  • United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
  • United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
  • Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
  • Minamata Convention on Mercury.
• India is both a donor and a recipient of funding from the GEF. The political focal point for GEF in India is the Finance Ministry while the operational focal point is the Environment Ministry.

Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF)

• The Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) for action and support is a central component to the design, credibility and operation of the Paris Agreement.
• The framework specifies how parties to the agreement must report on progress in climate change mitigation, adaptation measures and support provided or received.
• It also provides for international procedures for the review and evaluation of those reports.
• Transparency Framework is of central importance. Parties must report regularly on their progress in implementing their NDC targets and goals, and the reports are subject to international peer review.
• The Transparency Framework thus creates the basis for the global public to publicly name and denounce those states that have failed to meet their self-imposed targets and goals. This procedure, known as “naming and shaming”, could offset the lack of binding NDC achievement and is thus a central pillar of the Paris regime.