Article 6.4 Supervisory Body Adopts Crucial Standards at Eighteenth Meeting, ESG Broadcast Shares Key Takeaways.
Key Extract
The Article 6.4 Supervisory Body (SB) finalized crucial rules to address the potential risk of emission removals being reversed under the new global crediting mechanism. These newly adopted rules are essential for maintaining the environmental integrity of Paris Agreement credits generated by projects that sequester greenhouse gases. This significant regulatory breakthrough occurred during their Eighteenth Meeting, which was held successfully over five days in Bonn, Germany. The Supervisory Body also made substantial progress on other fundamental governance and essential regulatory matters.
The draft “Standard: Addressing non-permanence and reversals in mechanism methodologies” was formally adopted, establishing a definitive key rule for market integrity. This crucial new standard outlines robust accountability methods for losses of emission removals which are later experienced by projects. To manage liabilities, the rules provide clear incentives for investors through mandatory monitoring and an innovative insurance pool. The SB also requested a detailed concept note regarding buffer pool contributions and NDC accounting implications.
The Supervisory Body adopted the new “Methodological Tool: Common practice analysis” to rigorously ensure project additionality within the carbon market. This comprehensive tool verifies whether a specific project type is already widespread, thereby ensuring only real emissions reductions are credited. Significant regulatory documents covering the activity cycle saw comprehensive revisions during the meeting. Importantly, the application deadline for the transition of legacy CDM activities was formally extended until December 31, 2026.
“Getting to this point wasn’t easy – there were strong views on all sides and some very tough decisions to make, but we’ve landed on a standard that provides a firm foundation for addressing reversal risk in line with science. It also recognises the need for practical solutions to address the longer term. I trust that stakeholders will engage to ensure that we meet and deliver on the highest standards.” said Martin Hession, Supervisory Body Chair.
To expand global operational capacity, the Supervisory Body accredited four further independent auditors, known as Designated Operational Entities (DOEs). These newly accredited entities, including 4KES and Ampere, will perform essential validation and verification functions across various industrial sectoral scopes. Concurrently, the core accreditation standard and its corresponding procedure were formally revised. These necessary updates to the accreditation system officially became effective on October 10, 2025.
Strategic significance lies in creating the necessary technical and governance foundation for high-integrity credits under the growing international carbon market of the Paris Agreement. The SB’s collective decisions demonstrated significant commitment to transparency and the continuing review of market rules based on the best available science. Future work will focus on adopting the first methodology for the mechanism at the next virtual meeting. This successful meeting ultimately solidifies the mechanism’s transition into its crucial operational implementation phase.
