Background

The UNFCCC, through its Regional Collaboration Centres (RCCs), is actively supporting countries in operationalizing Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and advancing the adoption of various carbon pricing instruments. These efforts aim to promote international cooperation in climate action, foster market-based mechanisms, and create pathways for achieving emission reduction targets.

The side event provided a comprehensive overview of ongoing Article 6 activities in South Asian countries, highlighting their progress and preparedness to engage in cooperative approaches. Such readiness can help mobilize the financial, technical, and institutional support needed for implementing targeted sectoral mitigation actions aligned with conditional NDC targets.

The event featured interventions from government representatives of Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Singapore, and Japan, along with contributions from other technical assistance providers involved in Article 6-related capacity-building efforts across South Asia.

Objectives

This side event aimed to:

• Provide a platform for countries to share lessons and experiences from their participation in cooperative approaches under Article 6, offering a comprehensive status update on its operationalization in the South Asia region.
• Allow participating countries to reflect on their progress, challenges, and insights, highlighting key elements and practical aspects of the Article 6 process that have shaped their journey so far.
• Disseminate current South Asian countries’ learnings and successes, showcasing best practices that can serve as models for other countries.

These shared experiences are intended to accelerate the adoption of essential components for Article 6 implementation, enabling smoother integration into domestic frameworks and fostering regional cooperation for climate action.

Key takeaways:

Bhutan  

• Bhutan presented information on the current support packages it receives from RCC MENA SA, WB, and A6IP. 

• Bhutan aims to tap into micro-scale activities through its Climate Fund Facility—the Bhutan Climate Fund. This fund will act as an aggregator to bundle activities and develop actions on the ground. 

• Bhutan has entered into an implementation agreement with Singapore to advance cooperative approaches. 

• They emphasized the process by which the country is integrating carbon markets for NDC implementation. 

Singapore  

• Singapore has a domestic carbon tax scheme, with prices evolving from 5 to 25 Singapore dollars. The current carbon tax regulation allows Singaporean companies to offset 5% of their emissions through ITMOs from various countries. 

• Singapore is currently working with several countries, and in the South Asia context, it has MOUs with Sri Lanka and Bhutan for the development of cooperative approaches. 

• As part of these cooperative approaches, Singapore will support various countries in capacity building aimed at operationalizing Article 6. 

World Bank  

• World Bank support packages with countries started with Partnership for Market Readiness and now evolved as Partnership for Market Implementation.  

• Bank works Bhutan, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka in the South Asian Context with all the ambits of A6 implementation – development of policies in Bhutan, A6 Readiness in Nepal.  

Article 6 Implementation Program (A6IP) 

• A6IP is working in various countries and has a two-year work plan with Bhutan and Bangladesh to develop each country’s readiness under Article 6. Specifically in Bangladesh, A6IP recently conducted a scoping study aimed at assessing private sector readiness and identifying potential mitigation outcomes. 

Watch the event again:

Credit: UN Climate Change

Credit: UN Climate Change

Credit: UN Climate Change

Credit: UN Climate Change