A6IP and UNIDO Announced Strategic Joint Declaration (JD) and Co-organised Side Event at International Vienna Energy and Climate Forum (IVECF) 2026

The Paris Agreement Article 6 Implementation Partnership (A6IP) Centre, with the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) serving as its secretariat, co-organised a high-level deep dive session titled “From Integrity to Investment: Creating Trusted Carbon Markets that Mobilise Private Climate Finance”. The event was held on Friday, 10 April 2026, from 15:30 to 16:50 Central European Summer Time (CEST) on the sidelines of the International Vienna Energy and Climate Forum (IVECF) at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria.

Co-organised with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), this session explores how transparency, strong governance, and robust policy frameworks can build the trust necessary to unlock private sector investment at scale. The event aimed to identify persistent structural barriers inhibiting private capital flows into carbon markets and practical solutions for strengthening national readiness in developing countries.

The programme featured Opening Remarks by Petra Schwager, UNIDO’s Chief of Climate and Technology Partnership (CTP) Division, Directorate of SDG Innovation and Economic Transformation (IET) and Welcome Remarks by Elfriede-Anna More, Government of Austria’s Head of the Department of International Climate and Environmental Affairs, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Climate  and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Manager.

Naoki Torii, Industrial Development Officer at UNIDO provided an introduction to set the context, where he introduced UNIDO’s new initiative called the Carbon Market for Development Partnership (CM4D), designed to leverage private sector support by mobilising upfront climate finance and accelerating participation in high-integrity international carbon markets.

This was followed by an expert panel discussion. The panel was moderated by Current Masunungure, Industrial Development Expert at UNIDO, bringing together diverse perspectives from:

• Shom Teoh, Senior Programme Manager, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES).
• Jacob Bourgeois, Managing Director, Volkswagen ClimatePartner.
• Ayse Frey, Managing Director at Energy Changes.
• Marika Stocker, Head of Impact Investing and Carbon Financing, First Climate.
• Peter Renner, Chairman of the Board der Stiftung, Allianz für Entwicklung und Klima.
• Estelle Herlyn, Head of Research, KCN Competence Centre for Sustainable Development, FOM University of Applied Sciences

The event concluded with closing reflections and the joint announcement delivered by Kazuhisa Koakutsu, Director of the Article 6 Implementation Partnership (A6IP) Centre, and Petra Schwager, Chief of the Division of Climate and Technology Partnership at UNIDO.

The event concluded with an announcement of a Joint Declaration between UNIDO and A6IP. This strategic partnership set out the intention of UNIDO and A6IP to strengthen cooperation on capacity-building, policy support, and technical assistance to help countries develop the institutional arrangements required to implement Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. The collaboration aims to accelerate the development of trusted carbon markets and mobilise additional finance for low‑carbon industrial transformation.