Germany this week launched a tender for up to 1.1mn carbon offsetting credits generated under the Article 6.4 of the Paris climate agreement's crediting mechanism (Pacm), to compensate for federal government travel activities and other inevitable emissions.
The compensation will cover the year 2025, as well as the offsetting shortfall accrued in previous years, owing to insufficient supply in the tenders.
The main bidder in previous tenders, Berlin-based project developer Atmosfair, told Argus it plans to participate in the current tender, making a repeat of last year's extreme undersubscription unlikely. Atmosfair declined to provide any details on the activities it plans to submit.
The number of tendered offsets plunged by 90pc year on year to just 27,554 units last year, as Atmosfair was unable to participate in the tender following a methodological change introduced in May 2025 under Pacm's predecessor, the clean development mechanism (CDM). The change to the CDM tool for calculating the so-called fraction of non-renewable biomass led to a halving of the number of credits Atmosfair was able to generate, mainly in the clean cooking sector, leaving it with a credit shortfall.
Germany has been carrying out these tenders since 2014. The credits have had to be correspondingly adjusted since 2021, meaning their emissions reductions cannot be double-counted — a key prerequisite under Article 6 but almost non-existent among activities in the voluntary carbon market. The corresponding adjustment requirement has led to a drop in bidding volumes since 2021.
Only credits that will at some point be registered under Pacm — including transitioning CDM activities — have been allowed in the tenders since 2023. Atmosfair has been the only noticeable participant in the tenders since then, as it is one of the few developers to offer credits with corresponding adjustments.
The current tender sets a cap of 80,000 credits per project, applying only in the case that sufficient bids are submitted.
Projects will also be evaluated according to criteria including the location of the project — such as a least developed country — or the project's contribution to sustainable development, which could be proved through the completion of the documents required under Article 6.4's sustainable development tool.
Germany secured the offsetting credits for an average price of €13.50/t of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) in its 2025 tender, and €25.84/t CO2e for 2024.
