Advancing International Cooperation under the Paris Agreement: Issues and Options for Article 6

Michael A. Mehling

November 2021

Article 6 of the Paris Agreement allows Parties to cooperate by transferring mitigation outcomes, promising significant reductions in the cost of achieving mitigation commitments and a potential means of closing the persistent gaps in climate ambition and climate finance. Leveraging this potential will depend on operational details agreed by Parties, yet such agreement has proven elusive in the international climate negotiations. This Working Paper identifies the most critical negotiating issues that have prevented agreement to date, traces the positions of key Parties and Party groupings, describes possible outcomes and their implications, and addresses prospects for compromise and consequences of a failure to reach multilateral agreement.