The 6.4 Supervisory Body mechanism released its Standard for Application of the requirements of Chapter V.B (Methodologies) for the development and assessment of Article 6.4 mechanism methodologies. The standard came into force on October 9, 2024.

The objective of the standard is to set out the requirements for the development and assessment of Article 6.4 mechanism methodologies.

Mechanism methodologies aim to provide the basis for claim and assessment of creditable emission reductions, including the satisfaction of additionality requirements. The document elaborates on the principles for methodology development and ensures alignment with broader climate goals, such as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.

The key principles outlined espouse that mechanism methodologies should:

1.      Encourage ambition over time

·        set ambitious baselines to encourage ambition of activities over time.

·        facilitate the deployment of technologies or measures that are not widely used or available in specific locations, to facilitate knowledge transfer and encourage deployment of technologies or measures that reduce the cost of decarbonization and unlock investment in low-carbon solutions.

·        contain provisions that facilitate the inclusion of progressively more efficient and less GHG intensive technologies, replicable and scalable mitigation activities, expanding the user base, broader geographic coverage, and greater penetration of low-carbon solutions after initial deployment.

2. Be real, transparent, conservative and credible

·        Estimations should be based on up-to-date scientific information and reliable data.

·        Require transparent descriptions of the sources of data used, the assumptions made, the references used and the steps followed in the estimation.

·        Ensure conservative estimation of emission reductions or removals from the measures applied.

·        Have a robust monitoring, data capture and reporting system to ensure credibility.

3. Encourage broad participation

·        Contain provisions that uphold stringency and encourage broad participation by being accurate, simple, clear, and avoiding complexity such that a wide range of activity participants and host Parties can apply the methodology requirements irrespective of a Party’s scientific infrastructure, financial and national circumstances.

·        Contain provisions that take into account the context on the ground in host Parties, particularly in least developed countries and small island developing States.

·        Contain provisions that take into account the knowledge and practices of local communities and Indigenous Peoples.

4. Demonstrate additionality

·        Mechanism methodologies shall contain provisions to demonstrate additionality through;

o   prior consideration of the benefits of the mechanism,

o   regulatory analysis,

o   the avoidance of lock-in

o   financial additionality complemented with a common practice analysis i.e. demonstration that the proposed activity would not have occurred in the absence of the incentives from the mechanism through an investment analysis or that there were barriers to its occurrence.

5. Address leakage

Leakage refers to anthropogenic emissions by sources of GHGs that occur outside the activity boundary which are attributable to the Article 6.4 activity.

·        Ensure that the potential sources of leakage in activities covered by a mechanism methodology are identified.

·        Require that activity participants list all potential sources of leakage that may reasonably be attributable to the activity and describe how each is being addressed and require activities to avoid or minimize all sources of leakage.

·        Include provisions for robust, transparent and user-friendly measurement, reporting and independent third-party verification systems that encompass specific sources of potential leakage identified.

·        Include, where necessary, life cycle analysis of products.

·        Leakage shall be avoided and, where not possible, minimized, or addressed, by, inter alia:

o   discounting credit volumes

o   scrapping of baseline equipment

o   applying a standardized baseline at a higher level of aggregation

o   aligning relevant aspects of activity design and implementing activities together with an existing higher-level crediting programme

o   upscaling implementation.

Lastly, mechanism methodologies shall address reversals of removals and emission reductions using an approach consistent with the standard on requirements for activities involving removals under the Article 6.4 mechanism.