During the first quarter of 2023, RCC Asia-Pacific engaged with diverse stakeholders from the region to raise awareness about economic instruments, including carbon pricing and international carbon markets.
 

Guided by Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, these instruments can be explored both at national and regional level to curb emissions and align with the goals agreed in Paris. Carbon pricing leverages market forces to address climate change by creating financial incentives for companies and countries to lower their emissions — either by switching to more efficient processes or cleaner fuels. It is one of the effective means for countries to pace the implementation of the energy transition and achieve domestic, regional and international climate targets.

ASEAN Workshop on Carbon Pricing Implementation
 

The ASEAN Climate Change and Energy Project Phase 2 (ACCEPT II) was officially welcomed by the 40th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) in 2022 with goals to support ASEAN Member States and ASEAN’s capacity to move towards Low-Carbon Energy System and contribute towards carbon neutrality or net zero in the coming years. Through ACCEPT II, the ASEAN Centre for Energy is engaging in discussion with policymakers from the energy and climate sectors to enhance knowledge sharing on the energy-climate nexus through workshops and seminars. Supported by the Technical Assistance Facility of the Green Team Europe Initiative (TAF-GTEI) a workshop was organized on 24-26 July in Bali, Indonesia.

The Workshop on Carbon Pricing Implementation in ASEAN focused on how carbon pricing is a cost-effective tool to accelerate decarbonisation in the energy sector and to learn from each other on implementing carbon pricing as a climate mitigation tool, with the following objectives:

• To enhance the exchange of expertise and information on the interconnection between the ASEAN region's energy, economy, and climate issues.  
• To deepen participants’ knowledge of carbon pricing as a tool to accelerate decarbonisation in the energy sector.  
• To better understand carbon pricing as a catalyst for the energy transition.  
• To gather lessons learned and experiences from other countries regarding planning, policies, and implementation of Carbon Pricing.  
• To deepen participants' understanding of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and its implications for ASEAN. 

RCC Asia Pacific moderated and presented at several sessions to share how carbon pricing reduces emissions and helps decarbonization while improving renewable energy promotion and adoption. An introduction and status of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement were also shared with participants.

Credit: UN Climate Change

Capacity Building Workshop on Carbon Pricing and PA Art.6 for Mongolian Governmental stakeholders - 24 to 25 May 2023
 

On 24-25 May 2023, the RCC Asia-Pacific and the Mongolia’s President’s Office, OLOLT Climate Change, Carbon Market Development Center jointly organized the “Capacity Building Workshop on Carbon Pricing and PA Art.6 for Mongolian Governmental stakeholders”. The Workshop was delivered with the following objectives: 

• To build capacity on the topic of economic instruments for mitigation, especially carbon pricing, in the broader context of the Paris Agreement  
• To present the different approaches for carbon pricing and provide concrete examples  
• To present the status quo of carbon pricing around the world with focus at regional level;   
• To receive feedback and hear views from local and national stakeholders on specific country circumstances to consider (social, economic and fiscal context as well as the overall situation related to energy and greenhouse gases) and what would influence the feasibility of carbon pricing.  

Capacity Building Workshop & RNA Validation Workshop on Article 6 Implementation in Thailand
 

The Government of Thailand has demonstrated a keen interest in actively participating in the global carbon market created by Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. As one of four country partners to the German-funded “Supporting Preparedness for Article 6 Cooperation”, or SPAR6C programme, the Thailand program is being implemented in partnership with the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) at the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and the Thailand GHG Management Organization (TGO). RCC Asia-Pacific presented an update on the status of the Article 6 of the Paris Agreement at a capacity-building workshop on 25-27 April.