Paris Agreement
Structure, NDCs, and the Article 6 Carbon Market
The Paris Agreement (2015) replaced the top-down Kyoto Protocol with a bottom-up system of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) — voluntary climate pledges submitted by each country. Countries must submit progressively ambitious NDCs every five years. Article 6 of the Agreement provides for international carbon markets and cooperative mechanisms.
- NDCs are voluntary but must be progressively ambitious with each cycle
- Article 6.2: Bilateral trading of "Internationally Transferable Mitigation Outcomes" (ITMOs) between countries
- Article 6.4: UN-supervised centralized carbon crediting mechanism (Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism, PACM)
- Trading carbon credits could reduce global NDC implementation costs by up to $250 billion by 2030
- 78% of countries indicated intent to use Article 6 mechanisms in their NDCs
- Trump's second withdrawal (January 20, 2025): US exits Paris Agreement; withdrawal takes 12 months to take effect
● Tracked since March 25, 2026 · last seen June 27, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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