India, Japan adopt operating rules for Joint Crediting Mechanism under Paris Agreement's Article 6.2 Energy Watch
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India, Japan adopt operating rules for Joint Crediting Mechanism under Paris Agreement's Article 6.2

India and Japan have adopted rules to implement the Joint Crediting Mechanism for carbon credits under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement

EW Bureau

New Delhi: India and Japan have adopted the 'Rule of Implementation' for the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, putting in place the operating framework for bilateral carbon credit cooperation between the two countries, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said on Tuesday.

The rules were adopted on June 8, 2026, under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the ministry said.

The two governments had signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) for the JCM last year. According to the ministry, "The MoC established a framework for collaboration on mitigation activities that deliver greenhouse gas emission reductions or removals while supporting sustainable development outcomes in India and contributing to the achievement of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of both countries."

The MoC was signed in August 2025 and was India's first bilateral cooperation mechanism under the Paris Agreement, with India becoming the 31st country to partner Japan under the JCM.

Governance arrangements

The ministry said the new rules establish the institutional machinery for the mechanism. "The Rule of Implementation defines robust governance arrangements, including a Joint Committee with representatives from both Governments, transparent project approval procedures, third-party validation and verification, sustainable development safeguards and national registries to track the issuance and transfer of credits," it said.

Investment and technology transfer

The ministry said the mechanism would draw low-carbon investment into India. "The Joint Crediting Mechanism demonstrates India's firm commitment to climate action," it said, adding that it "will catalyse investment, technology transfer and capacity-building for projects involving low-carbon technologies in India to support climate change mitigation and sustainable development."

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How the JCM works

Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement allows countries to cooperate bilaterally and trade emission reductions to help meet their NDCs. The JCM is a Japan-initiated mechanism under which Japan supports low-carbon technology projects in partner countries, with the resulting greenhouse gas reductions shared between the two sides based on each country's contribution. The framework is a central plank of the Paris Agreement's architecture for international carbon markets, an area in focus ahead of the COP30 climate talks.

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