COP30 Approves Key Decisions on Paris Agreement Market Mechanisms

On Friday, 21 November, the final day of COP-30, the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA) adopted key decisions to advance the implementation of Articles 6.2 and 6.4 of the Paris Agreement, both essential pillars for the functioning of international carbon markets.

Article 6.2 concerns cooperative approaches between countries through the international transfer of mitigation outcomes (ITMOs), while Article 6.4 establishes the new global carbon-credit mechanism that will replace the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol.

The following points of Article 6.2 were clarified:

• The Subsidiary Body for Implementation is requested to present a draft decision on long-term financing arrangements for: (i) the operation and maintenance of the Article 6.2 infrastructure; (ii) technical reviews conducted by Article 6 technical experts; and (iii) capacity-building activities under Article 6.2.
• The CMA acknowledges the first cycle of technical reviews conducted by the Article 6 Technical Expert Review Teams, recognizing that this is an early-stage process and that several inconsistencies were identified in the reporting of participating countries, which should be corrected based on previously adopted decisions.
• The Secretariat must organize an informal, non-punitive, and non-prescriptive dialogue to assist countries in understanding and addressing recurring inconsistencies.
• The CMA expresses concern regarding the current state of the international infrastructure under Article 6.2 (including registries and tracking systems) and calls for its accelerated implementation.
• Parties are encouraged to make voluntary contributions to support infrastructure, technical reviews and capacity-building.

Regarding Article 6.4—and in line with the mandate adopted at COP-29, which shifted the development of the mechanism to a predominantly technical process—the CMA decision reflects several important advances:

• The CMA recognizes the adoption by the Supervisory Body of the first mechanism methodology: “Landfill gas flaring and utilization.”
• It also recognizes the adoption of a set of foundational standards for the development and approval of methodologies under Article 6.4 (baseline, additionality, leakage, suppressed demand and non-permanence).
• Parties are encouraged to designate their Nationally Designated Authorities, and Parties interested in participating in the mechanism are invited to submit their participation requests.
• Improvements to transparency and stakeholder participation procedures are requested, including participation by Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
• The Supervisory Body is requested to prioritize its review of CDM methodologies applicable to activities transitioning to the Article 6.4 mechanism.
• The deadline for submission of CDM projects seeking transition to Article 6.4 has been extended to 30 June 2026. It is worth noting that, in October 2025, Brazil issued Ordinance GM/MMA No. 1,479/2025, setting out the national procedures for reviewing such requests.
• The CMA welcomes the transfer of USD 26.8 million from the CDM Trust Fund to the Article 6.4 Mechanism Trust Fund, strengthening the financial capacity for implementation and capacity-building.

The decisions adopted at COP-30 represent important steps toward enabling the operationalization of the international carbon markets envisioned under the Paris Agreement. The combination of newly adopted methodologies, strengthened technical review processes, improvements in registry infrastructure and enhanced governance places Article 6 on a more concrete path toward implementation.

For the private sector, these decisions reinforce the technical progress needed for supply and demand of credits under Article 6.4, the importance of regulatory due diligence in countries participating in cooperative approaches under Article 6.2, and the timeline for transitioning CDM projects.

The Environmental, Climate Change & Sustainability Practice of Tauil & Chequer Advogados in association with Mayer Brown remains available to provide further clarification on the implications of the COP-30 decisions for businesses, carbon markets and climate policy.