Excerpt from reuters.com
Countries at the U.N. COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan will attempt to agree rules for a global system for trading carbon offset credits.
Here’s what you should know:
WHAT ARE CARBON OFFSETS?
Some governments and companies may struggle to reduce their planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions to meet their climate targets. Supporters of carbon offsets see them as a key means to help meet these goals.
These offsets allow one nation or company to offset some of their emissions by paying for actions to cut emissions elsewhere. These actions might include rural solar panel installations or converting a fleet of petrol buses to electric.
WHAT IS ARTICLE 6?
Article 6 of the Paris Agreement helps countries work together to reduce their carbon emissions. It sets out two options for countries and companies to trade offsets, helping them meet the goals they set to reduce planetary-warming gases in their climate action plans, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
One allows two countries to set their own terms for a bilateral carbon trading agreement, this is known as Article 6.2. The second aims to create a central, UN-managed system for countries and companies to begin offsetting their carbon emissions and trading those offsets, known as Article 6.4.
