<article><p class="lead">The UNFCCC's sceptical view on technological CO2 removals (CDR) could push developers of CDR-based carbon market projects towards bilateral contracts under Article 6.2 of the Paris climate agreement, and away from the planned UN carbon market mechanism under Article 6.4, a CDR expert has suggested. </p><p>A recent "information note" published last month by the UNFCCC secretariat for the Article 6.4 supervisory body had triggered an uproar in the carbon removals industry over its <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2454308">sceptical stance on engineered carbon removals</a>. The note says engineering-based removal activities are technologically and economically "unproven", especially at scale, and pose "unknown" environmental and social risks. It also points to CDR's limited contribution to emissions reductions and high costs, and questions its contribution to sustainable development and suitability for developing countries.</p><p>The uproar over the information note may ultimately have a beneficial impact, carbon management firm Climate Direct's chief scientist Julio Friedmann argued at an industry event this week, in that it will "strengthen the desire to do things under the Article 6.2". "I think we're going to see more exchange, more bilateral, multinational action, more investment as a consequence of this note," Friedmann told delegates at an event hosted by direct air capture (DAC) firm Climeworks in Zurich.</p><p>This could "liberate more opportunities", Friedmann said. He pointed to countries such as Uruguay, Indonesia, India and Brazil, which are planning to invest in or are building DAC plants.</p><p>Article 6.2 of the Paris deal is a framework under which states can sign bilateral agreements on carbon mitigation projects. It is a flexible system under which countries can generate and buy internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs).</p><p>Article 6.4 provides for a new UN centralised carbon market mechanism, essentially a successor to the Kyoto Protocol's clean development mechanism (CDM). The Article 6.4 supervisory body, which met in Bonn, Germany, last week ahead of the UN's climate gathering taking place there over 5-15 June, is scheduled to finalise its methodologies — including on carbon removals — by September, in time for the UN Cop 28 climate summit in Dubai in December.</p><p>The first credits to register under Article 6.4 will be from CDM activities eligible to transition to the new mechanism. The UNFCCC secretariat is setting up a web interface to allow this transition to be registered from the end of this month.</p><p>It is a "no-brainer" that countries will lean towards using the Article 6.2 mechanism, which is not only already operational, but is also easier to use and will be cheaper, managing director of consultancy Climate Principles Eve Tamme said in Zurich. Tamme stressed the importance of "getting right" the issue of removals under Article 6.4.</p><p class="bylines">By Chloe Jardine</p></article>
