"Policy Brief: Carbon Markets in the Post Paris World," 8 Nov 2016

The Paris Agreement represents a new era for international climate action…The Paris Agreement’s Article 6 on international cooperation and markets, was vague enough to offer something to everyone…Parties looking for a multilateral approach got a “mechanism to contribute to the mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and support sustainable development”, in short the Sustainable Development Mechanism (SDM), as an heir to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)…Now the task is to interpret the vague language in the article…This will not be easy…[T]he elaboration of each provision is almost certainly co-dependent on progress made in the others.

This briefing provides a starting point to interpret what Cooperative Approaches and the Sustainable Development Mechanism are, how they differ, and where the pitfalls lie in moving forward. It also highlights recommendations on how they could play a constructive role in global climate action while fostering sustainable development and protecting human rights.

Read full policy brief here