Norway and Singapore have played leading roles in the negotiations on the rules for quota trading also known as Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and the new rules were finally adopted at the climate summit COP26 in Glasgow on 13 November.
Creating a market for carbon trading among countries is deemed as a way to limit carbon emissions collectively and the countries in the climate negotiations have tried several times before to agree on these rules but until now, attempts have failed.
Glasgow was the third attempt to reach an agreement after failed attempts in Katowice 2018 and Madrid 2019 and after six years the Paris Agreement rulebook has been finalized.
Singapore’s Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu and Norway’s Climate and Environment Minister Espen Barth Eide was tasked to be the co-facilitators of the ministerial consultations for Article 6.
Media E24 met Norwegian Climate and Environment Minister Espen Barth Eide in Glasgow where he pointed out that an agreement could affect the business community to a great extent.
Espen Barth Eide said, “Many in the business community are concerned about this. It is interesting for large players.”
The Minister believes that a global quota system can lead to less “greenwashing” and said, “In a way, this is a bit like a clean-up from “greenwashing” to real use of the quota market.”
In finalizing the rules, country leaders agreed on reporting standards and a five-year time frame to update Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Article 6 also includes a mandatory share-of-proceeds contribution of five percent and a monetary levy to the Adaptation Fund for countries that are most affected by the climate crisis.
