Article 6.8 Non-market Approaches:

Background: Article 6.8

Article 6.8, launched at COP28 in Dubai in December 2023, provides for holistic actions in the land sector.

‍Non-market approaches under Article 6.8 are better for climate finance, mitigation ambition, and ecological integrity than the Article 6.2 and Article 6.4 carbon market mechanisms agreed at COP29.  Non-market approaches do not involve the transfer of any mitigation outcomes.

Scaling up Ambition in the Land Sector

‍Article 6 of the Paris Agreement allows countries to increase mitigation ambition and achieve the targets set in their National Determined Contribution (NDC) through international cooperation.

‍Non-market approaches under Article 6.8 are superior for actions in the land sector – from community to multi-country levels -- due to their focus on joint-mitigation adaptation (JMA); the full contribution to the host country’s nationally-determined contribution (NDC); and their grounding in the rights-based language of the Paris Agreement Preamble.

‍The Article 6.8 implementation tools from COP26 in Glasgow in 2021 were launched at COP28 in Dubai in 2023. The NMA Platform allows countries, subnational governments and other approved entities to post project ideas and identify, develop and implement Non-market approaches.

‍The vision that has guided negotiators and contributors to the development of Non-market approaches integrates people, nature, and climate, and can develop and scale gender-just and rights-based actions.

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Addressing Mitigation and Adaptation Together‍ ‍

While Article 6.2 and 6.4 are meant to create carbon offsets and credits focused solely on mitigation, from the beginning Article 6.8 has been understood as the setting where joint mitigation-adaptation (JMA) approaches can be developed, especially for the integral and sustainable management of forests.

‍Joint mitigation-adaptation approaches should be both people-centered and focused on improving ecosystem integrity. Both are necessary components of resilience in the face of climate change.

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Bringing Climate and Biodiversity Together

‍A number of CLARA members work on alignment between the goals of the UNFCCC and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and specifically the pursuit of synergies between climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation.

‍Achieving the goals and targets of the CBD and UNFCCC will not be possible unless carbon dense and species-rich ecosystems are protected and restored. The principle of ecosystem integrity must be fully implemented in the monitoring frameworks and accounting rules of both Conventions.

‍The UN System of Environmental Economic Accounting (UN-SEEA) shows a way to implement these ecosystem-based approaches. It makes clear that high-integrity ecosystems provide more stable carbon sinks (for mitigation), better conservation outcomes, and lowered risk of the loss of ecosystem services (improved resilience and adaptation responses).

Read about Ecological Integrity

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Creating Real Climate Finance for Real Solutions

‍Article 6.8 provides better mitigation outcomes because there are no mitigation transfers and no use of offset mechanisms to ‘excuse’ continued fossil fuel use elsewhere. Under the Article 6.4 mechanism, only 2% of all issued emissions reductions credits (A6.4ERs) are subject to mandatory cancellation to contribute to overall mitigation in global emissions (OMGE), and a levy of only 5% of issued credits are transferred to the Adaptation Fund.  This means that more than 90% of the proposed mitigation benefit is available for trading and offsetting purposes!

‍Contrast this with Article 6.8, where 100% of the mitigation effort is recorded on the NDC of the host country. Article 6.8 ensures an overall mitigation in global emissions  – one of the key principles in which Article 6 is grounded.

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Matching Innovative Finance to Community Needs

‍Well managed Protected Areas, Indigenous territories including Indigenous Protected Areas that support traditional management, and landscape-level restoration are the best examples of conservation. These approaches deliver on mitigation, adaptation, biodiversity protection, ecosystem integrity and resilience. Article 6.8 provides the opportunity to deliver these robust climate and biodiversity outcomes and increase their prominence in countries’ NDCs.

‍CLARA has detailed the kinds of additional resources that can be mobilized from levies and taxes that seek to reduce fossil fuel use and dampen speculation in financial markets. This would deliver a ‘double win’ for land-based action.

‍CLARA also points to the variety of innovative finance approaches that could be supported through Article 6.8 Non-market approaches. The NMA Platform should allow direct access for local communities and Indigenous Peoples to post the funding mechanisms they have developed.

‍Examples of innovative finance that advance 6.8’s focus on ecosystem integrity and community-led solutions: the Pawanka Fund, CLARIFI, the ForestPeoplesClimate platform, the Amazon Fund, and The Tenure Facility. At COP27, groups united by the Shandia Vision presented examples of successful direct funding mechanisms; future workshops on Article 6.8 should build on this example. And to support direct access for community groups and national (and regional) indigenous federations, the NMA Platform should provide clear simplified guidance and templates for adding proposals.

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Support Through the Glasgow Leader’ Declaration

‍The Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration from COP26 is significant for the protection, conservation, and restoration of forests. The pledge includes a target figure for dedicated finance: USD 12 billion, along with a commitment of USD 7.2 billion from philanthropic and other private sources.

‍Signers of the Glasgow Declaration affirmed their commitment to “sustainable land use, and to the conservation, protection, sustainable management and restoration of forests, and other terrestrial ecosystems.” They noted the importance of “support for smallholders, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities, who depend on forests for their livelihoods and have a key role in their stewardship.” The language in the declaration is consistent with the goals of Article 6.8 Non-market approaches!

‍Although the Glasgow Declaration was made outside the framework of UNFCCC negotiations; Article 6.8 provides an opportunity to fulfill its pledges in line with the requirements of the Paris Agreement.

Article 6.8 at COP 30 in Belém, Brazil

‘Two-party requirement' to access the NMA Platform is a barrier

At COP30, rich developed countries continued to block single party registration of Non-market approaches to the NMA Platform despite the support of several developing country blocs. The two-party requirement for posting to the platform has led to its underutilization since wide use of the platform can only be expected when Parties and the broad range of partners that have expressed interest in multiple workshops at UNFCCC meetings can post projects themselves. 

CLARA members will continue to work with Parties to advocate for single party registration and additional functionalities on the Platform at the upcoming SB64 meeting in Bonn in June as part of this year’s mandated review of the Article 6.8 work programme.

Non-market approaches are now linked to the Mitigation Work Programme

‍A breakthrough COP30 decision in the Mitigation Ambition and Implementation Work Programme (MWP) “encourages Parties to record projects they identify under the MWP on the NMA Platform.”  The decision also requests the Subsidiary Body to consider ways to implement additional functionalities on the Platform so that Parties can do so.  This linkage creates the opportunity to introduce a broad range of MWP activities as Non-market approaches including:  

• ‍The critical role of forests, including boreal, temperate and tropical forests, in enhancing climate resilience, biodiversity, water and food security;

• The vital role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities and the need to support them in the sustainable management and use of forests, as well as the importance of recognizing their land rights and traditional knowledge; and

• The potential for synergies among mitigation, adaptation, biodiversity conservation, combatting desertification, and sustainable development.

• CLARA members and other civil society organizations will identify Parties to work with as new negotiations linking NMA and the MWP begin at the upcoming SB64 meeting in Bonn in June.

‘Ecosystem-based adaptation' is identified as a Just Transition activity

‍The COP30 decision under the Just Transition Work Programme emphasizes “the connection between just transition pathways and ensuring the integrity of all ecosystems and the protection of biodiversity, recognized by some cultures as Mother Earth, including the use of ecosystem-based adaptation approaches”.

‍This is a concrete expression of synergistic action and will be a key area of advocacy for CLARA members and other civil society organizations to work with Parties at the upcoming SB64 meeting in Bonn in June.

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OPPORTUNITIES FOR NON-MARKET APPROACHES IN 2026

‍COP30 opened the door to transform Non-market approaches from a simple concept to a real pathway for increased climate action and to expand its narrow realm within Article 6 and voluntary cooperation.

‍Negotiations in 2026 will create multiple opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of the work programme for Non-market approaches, center the NMA Platform in overall mitigation strategies pertaining to forest management, land rights, and other MWP actions, strengthen links to projects supported through the COP26 Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration, and build synergies within the UNFCCC and between the UNFCCC and the CBD.

CLARA ADVOCACY ON NON-MARKET APPROACHES UNDER ARTICLE 6.8

CLARA has worked hard to ensure that Non-market approaches, not just carbon markets, are part of the Article 6 mechanisms.  In submissions to the UNFCCC as the Article 6.8 work program has been negotiated, CLARA also argued for rights-based approaches with community needs at the center of action, and proposed a number of innovative funding mechanisms.

Read the full submissions:

• Release the [6.8] Hostage! — May 2021

• Build the Platform — February 2022

• Launch at COP28 — September 2023

• Article 6.8: The Untapped Potential of Paris’s Non-Market Mechanism - June 2024

• Article 6.8: Barriers Preventing Full Implementation -  March 2025

• Article 6.8: Scaling Up Non-Market Actions to Achieve NDC Targets – October 2025

• Article 6.8: Conceptualizing NMAs and Improving the Platform - March 2026

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Non-market approaches are now linked to the Mitigation Work Programme

A breakthrough COP30 decision in the Mitigation Ambition and Implementation Work Programme (MWP) “encourages Parties to record projects they identify under the MWP on the NMA Platform.”  The decision also requests the Subsidiary Body to consider ways to implement additional functionalities on the Platform so that Parties can do so.  This linkage creates the opportunity to introduce a broad range of MWP activities as Non-market approaches including:  

•  The critical role of forests, including boreal, temperate and tropical forests, in enhancing climate resilience, biodiversity, water and food security;

• The vital role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities and the need to support them in the sustainable management and use of forests, as well as the importance of recognizing their land rights and traditional knowledge; and

• The potential for synergies among mitigation, adaptation, biodiversity conservation, combatting desertification, and sustainable development.

CLARA members and other civil society organizations will identify Parties to work with as new negotiations linking NMA and the MWP begin at the upcoming SB64 meeting in Bonn in June.

‘Ecosystem-based adaptation' is identified as a Just Transition activity

The COP30 decision under the Just Transition Work Programme emphasizes “the connection between just transition pathways and ensuring the integrity of all ecosystems and the protection of biodiversity, recognized by some cultures as Mother Earth, including the use of ecosystem-based adaptation approaches”.

This is a concrete expression of synergistic action and will be a key area of advocacy for CLARA members and other civil society organizations to work with Parties at the upcoming SB64 meeting in Bonn in June.