COP29 makes headway on Article 6 in Day 1, says Simon Stiell

The first day of the COP29 climate conference saw parties making significant progress on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, agreeing on stringent standards for a unified carbon market, Simon Stiell, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said during a press conference on the second day of the event.

According to Report, Stiell hailed it as a good start. He emphasized that the agreement on Article 6 is the culmination of more than a decade of work within the UNFCCC process. He stated that Article 6 is not just some UN bureaucracy. The launch of carbon markets will help countries implement their climate plans faster and cheaper than cutting emissions, Stiell said.

The UNFCCC chief acknowledged that while there is still a long way to go in halving emissions this decade, the victory regarding carbon markets at COP29 will help get the world back on track. He stressed the importance of ensuring that developing countries benefit from the new financial flows generated by these markets.

Stiell also noted that there is still substantial work to be done on Article 6, which will continue to take all viewpoints into account.