Establishment of the Paris Agreement Article 6 Implementation Partnership Center

Overview

1.Implementing Article 6 (market mechanisms) of the Paris Agreement will stimulate decarbonization markets and private investment, which can lead to further reductions in global GHG emissions and economic growth. However, countries face challenges in implementing Article 6, such as institutional arrangements and knowledge sharing.
 
2.In response, the Ministry of the Environment (MOE), Japan launched the Paris Agreement Article 6 Implementation Partnership (A6IP) at COP27 last year to support capacity building on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. MOE Japan further announced the soon-to-be-established of the Paris Agreement Article 6 Implementation Partnership Center (A6IP Center) at the G7 Ministers’ Meeting on Climate, Energy and Environment in Sapporo in April, which will serve as the secretariat of A6IP and promote its activities. 
 
.On April 27, 2023, the A6IP Center was established.
 
.With the establishment of the A6IP Center, activities to support countries’ capacity building on Article 6 will further be promoted, such as promoting understanding of its rules and conducting training programs through international cooperation. Under these activities, Japan will continue to lead the global expansion of market mechanisms in accordance with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and contribute to further reductions in global GHG emissions.
 
5. The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) will be responsible for the management of the A6IP Center. In cooperation with international organizations, in particular the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the World Bank, IGES will establish the governing structure of the A6IP Center, develop concrete capacity-building support measures, and share the results to the world by COP28 this year.

1.Background

(1) Paris Agreement Article 6 Implementation Partnership
The Paris Agreement Article 6 Implementation Partnership (A6IP) was established at COP27, under the leadership of Japan, as an international partnership to support institutional arrangements and capacity building for credit authorization and reporting necessary for the implementation of Article 6 through international cooperation. As of April 27, 2023, the partners include 66 countries and 32 institutions. Since February this year, thematic working groups have been held to share best practices on authorization and reporting required for the implementation of Article 6.
  Website: https://a6partnership.org/
 
(2) Necessity of the A6IP Center
With more than 100 countries mentioning the use of Article 6 in their Nationally Determined Contributions and the detailed rules for the Article 6 implementation adopted at COP27, we are now entering the full implementation phase of Article 6. The total number of A6IP partner countries and organizations has increased to around 100. At the same time, capacity building required for the institutional arrangements and operations necessary for countries to understand and implement the Article 6 rules has become an urgent issue.  Thus, the need for support has been increasing.

2.About the Article 6 Implementation Partnership Center

(1) Overview
In this context, the A6IP Center was established, with Japan playing a central role.  As the secretariat promoting the activities of the A6IP, the A6IP Center aims to respond to the support needs of partners, provide relevant capacity-building support according to each country’s situation, and contribute to emission reductions and removals through the implementation of activities, such as projects that leverage Article 6.
 
(2) Activities of the A6IP Center
●Development of capacity-building tools for authorization, reporting, and tracking
●Development of tailored support packages responding to country needs
●Collection and dissemination of information on capacity-building support
●Management of the A6IP

【Reference】

2023 G7 Ministers’ Meeting on Climate, Energy and Environment (April 15 – April 16, 2023, Sapporo, Japan)

 Relevant part in the Communiqué

 <Para 57. Carbon markets and Article 6 of the Paris Agreement
  “… we will collaborate to promote international coordination among various initiatives related to capacity building, including through the “Paris Agreement Article 6 Implementation Partnership”. For providing sustained activities at the Partnership, we welcome Japan’s initiative to establish the “Article 6 Implementation Partnership Center”, in this regard as a secretariat for the Partnership in supporting capacity building towards implementing Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.”