- As world leaders prepare for COP30, the Project Developer Forum (PD Forum) — a global coalition representing more than 60 carbon project developers — has released a seven-point action plan calling for pragmatic measures to accelerate international carbon markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
With negotiations shifting from rulemaking to implementation, the PD Forum is urging countries and climate negotiators to focus on transparency, efficiency, and investor confidence to attract private capital and scale up high-integrity emission reduction projects.
“Article 6 is moving from the rulebook to the real world at COP30,” said Nick Marshall, Chair of the PD Forum. “We need frameworks that enable private finance to flow and climate projects to scale, not create bureaucratic bottlenecks that stall progress.”
Seven Priorities for COP30
- Predictable and transparent cost structures
The Forum calls for clear, stable frameworks governing fees and levies on Article 6 activities. Predictability, it says, is essential for investors to assess project returns with confidence and accelerate capital deployment. Host countries are urged to set pragmatic fee structures aligned with Article 6 principles.
- Nuanced approach to benefit-sharing
Developers advocate for flexible models that ensure fair, direct benefits for local communities while accommodating differences in project types and regional contexts.
- Intelligent and inclusive authorisation
Parties should consider retroactive authorisation of eligible projects from 2021—the start of the current NDC period—to reward early climate action and stabilise market confidence. Bilateral agreements between nations could provide strong demand signals for carbon credits.
- Streamlined approval and issuance processes
A unified pathway from project approval to credit issuance is needed to avoid fragmented, year-by-year reviews that create uncertainty and disrupt financial planning.
- Legal certainty for corresponding adjustments
The PD Forum highlights the need for enforceable, transparent systems for corresponding adjustments (CAs) to prevent arbitrary reversals.
Two models cited as best practice include:
- Thailand–Switzerland bilateral agreement: South Pole issued the first Article 6 ITMOs with secure CAs, building market confidence.
- Zimbabwe’s immediate authorisation model: Cicada Carbon received the first tradable Article 6 credits with CAs, with simultaneous updates to national reporting, enabling immediate trading under mechanisms such as CORSIA.
Where similar models are not possible, the Forum urges development of insurance products to mitigate reversal risk — particularly for least developed countries (LDCs) most in need of carbon finance.
- Government continuity and capacity
The Forum emphasises the importance of retaining experienced staff in ministries and agencies managing Article 6 frameworks to maintain institutional knowledge and continuity.
- Accelerated registry development
The establishment of the UNFCCC Article 6.4 registry is deemed critical for enabling international trading of credits and demonstrating that carbon markets can operate effectively at scale.
Call for Developer Participation
The PD Forum is also calling for greater inclusion of project developers in the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM), arguing that their technical and field expertise should inform methodology design from the outset rather than only during public consultations.
“By adopting these recommendations, COP30 can help ensure Article 6 fulfils its potential to deliver measurable climate outcomes, mobilise private finance, and ensure equitable benefit-sharing across the Global South,” said Marshall.
The Forum reiterated its commitment to working with governments, multilateral bodies, and host countries to build robust, transparent, and inclusive international carbon market frameworks.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
The Project Developer Forum is a global network and collective voice of over 60 companies and practitioners dedicated to developing and financing greenhouse gas emission reduction projects.
