As the world accelerates efforts to tackle climate change, carbon markets are once again at the center of global climate action. Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, Article 6 introduces a new framework for international cooperation on emissions reduction. But for many developing countries, especially in Africa, a key question remains: will this new system succeed where the past one fell short?

The earlier global carbon market mechanism, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), was established under the Kyoto Protocol with the promise of delivering both emission reductions and sustainable development. Globally, the CDM mobilized thousands of projects and billions of dollars in climate finance. However, its benefits were unevenly distributed. Africa accounted for less than 3 percent of CDM projects, highlighting structural barriers such as limited access to finance, high transaction costs, and institutional capacity constraints.

Beyond access, concerns were also raised about environmental integrity, its additionality and development outcomes. Questions around whether emission reductions were truly additional, and whether local communities genuinely benefited, weakened confidence in the system. In many cases, sustainable development impacts were not systematically tracked or verified.

Article 6 of the Paris Agreement seeks to address these gaps. Unlike the CDM, it emphasizes country ownership, alignment with national climate plans (Nationally Determined Contributions), and stronger accounting rules to avoid double counting of emission reductions. It also introduces new opportunities for performance-based climate finance through instruments such as Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs).

Ghana is a pioneer in this new landscape. Through its cooperation with Switzerland under Article 6.2, the Government of Ghana with support of the United Nations Development Programme has established one of the first operational carbon market frameworks in Africa. This includes national authorization systems, institutional arrangements, and safeguards to ensure environmental integrity and development benefits.

In partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ghana is implementing innovative mitigation activities such as the Promotion of Climate Smart Agriculture Practices for Sustainable Rice Cultivation in Ghana Project, which promotes Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) to reduce methane emissions, and the Integrated Waste Recycling and Composting Project, which diverts organic waste from landfills. These initiatives are not only generating emission reductions but also improving resource use efficiency, supporting livelihoods, and strengthening institutional capacity for implementation and monitoring.

However, the success of Article 6 is not guaranteed. While the framework is stronger, implementation will determine whether it truly delivers high-integrity emission reductions and meaningful development outcomes. Potential risks such as over-crediting, weak monitoring systems, delays in verification, and limited institutional capacity must be proactively managed, particularly in emerging systems.

Drawing on lessons from the CDM and early implementation insights from emerging Article 6 activities, several success factors will be critical if the mechanism is to deliver differently for Africa.

First, reducing structural barriers to participation will be essential. Under the CDM, high transaction costs, complex methodologies, and limited access to upfront finance constrained African participation. For Article 6 to succeed, there must be deliberate efforts to simplify processes, strengthen institutional readiness, and improve access to early-stage financing to enable project development.

Second, ensuring environmental integrity through robust and transparent systems will be central to building trust. This goes beyond technical MRV requirements to include clear national authorization processes, consistent application of accounting rules such as corresponding adjustments, and transparent reporting that can withstand international scrutiny.

Third, making development outcomes measurable and accountable will be key. One of the critical gaps under the CDM was the weak tracking of sustainable development benefits. Under Article 6, there is an opportunity to define clear indicators for livelihoods, environmental co-benefits, and community impacts, and to integrate these into monitoring and verification systems so that benefits are demonstrated, not assumed.

As the world looks to carbon markets as a tool for climate action, Article 6 presents a unique opportunity to reset the system. For countries like Ghana, the focus is not just on generating carbon credits, but on ensuring that climate action delivers real benefits for people and the environment.

For carbon markets to work fairly, transparently, and effectively, three conditions are essential. They must ensure equitable access and participation, particularly for countries and communities that were previously excluded. They must be built on credible and transparent systems, where emission reductions and development outcomes are rigorously measured and verified. And they must deliver tangible, on-the-ground benefits, so that climate action is not only globally relevant but locally meaningful.

Now is the time to get it right