Finalization of Paris Agreement Rulebook with International Carbon Market Deal at COP26

Closing of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] At the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), detailed implementation rules for the international carbon market were finalized. This completed the detailed implementation rules of the Paris Agreement adopted in 2015.

COP26, held in Glasgow, UK, concluded around 11:30 PM on the 13th (local UK time).

The conference was attended by about 40,000 people, including delegations from 197 parties, industry representatives, civil society organizations, and research institutions. From South Korea, a delegation led by Environment Minister Han Jeong-ae, composed of officials from related ministries and experts, participated.

At the special summit held for the first time in six years since the 2015 Conference of the Parties (November 1-2), 120 heads of state, including South Korea, gathered and pledged to strengthen global climate action to limit the global temperature rise to within 1.5℃.

At COP26, the Glasgow Climate Pact was declared as the representative decision document, urging countries to take action in areas such as adaptation finance, mitigation, and cooperation.

The greatest achievement of this Conference of the Parties was the agreement on the guidelines for the international carbon market, which had been fiercely negotiated over the past six years, thus completing the detailed implementation rules of the Paris Agreement adopted in 2015. Previously, at COP24 in 2018, 16 guidelines in eight areas excluding the carbon market guidelines were adopted, and at the 25th Conference of the Parties (2019), the Article 6 guidelines remained unresolved.

The most contentious issue, the corresponding adjustment (to prevent double counting) of international mitigation outcomes, was resolved by adopting a compromise proposal put forward by the United States and others, gaining the consent of the parties. The principle is that corresponding adjustments must be made when mitigation outcomes are internationally transferred and used. However, it was clarified that mitigation outcomes under Article 6.4 purchased for other authorized purposes, such as voluntary carbon neutrality commitments by the private sector beyond the nationally determined contributions (NDCs), are subject to corresponding adjustments. For unauthorized other purposes, the guidelines did not specify whether corresponding adjustments are required.

Regarding Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) emission reductions (CERs) issued before 2021, only projects registered after 2013 can be used for the first NDC, and host countries are allowed to defer corresponding adjustments when using these reductions. It was agreed that mitigation outcomes generated from Article 6.2 (cooperative approaches) projects used for adaptation finance represent voluntary contributions by participating countries.

One of the core issues of this conference, transparency, saw early agreement on the biennial transparency report structure and the development of expert training courses for its review. However, negotiations on developing common reporting formats for the three main reporting areas?greenhouse gas emissions and removals, NDC implementation and achievement progress, and support (finance, technology, capacity building)?remained unresolved between developed and developing countries until the final stages. Ultimately, a solution allowing broad flexibility for developing countries was accepted, leading to final agreement.

In discussions on climate finance, developing countries strongly criticized developed countries for still failing to meet their promised long-term finance mobilization goals. Developed countries pledged to continue efforts to achieve the extended target by 2025.

Our delegation actively presented South Korea’s positions in key negotiation topics such as the international carbon market (Article 6 of the Agreement), mitigation, adaptation, and finance, while closely cooperating with the Environmental Integrity Group (EIG) and like-minded countries to ensure that our national interests were maximally reflected in the conference outcome documents.

During this conference, elections were held for 220 positions in the UNFCCC Secretariat and related bodies. South Korea succeeded in securing seats as a member of the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) Board (Basic and Applied Research Policy Officer, Ministry of Science and ICT), a member of the Paris Agreement Implementation and Compliance Committee (professor at Sookmyung Women’s University), and a member of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Executive Board (member of the Carbon Neutrality Committee). Additionally, South Korea announced plans to contribute 10 billion KRW over the next five years to establish and operate the CTCN Korea Cooperation Liaison Office.

Meanwhile, the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties will be held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt next year, and the 28th Conference in 2023 will be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.