The United Nations (UN) body overseeing the Paris Agreement’s carbon market has adopted a new methodology that opens the door for grid-connected renewable power projects to generate UN-backed carbon credits for the first time—a significant expansion of the mechanism’s reach as countries work to close a large financing gap in clean energy deployment.
The Article 6.4 Supervisory Body approved on July 30 the methodology for grid-connected renewable electricity, establishing which projects can qualify, how emission reductions must be measured, and what verification checks are required before credits can be issued.
The approach is designed to support renewable projects in countries where financing remains a barrier, helping nations advance their Paris Agreement commitments while opening new revenue streams for climate action in developing economies.
Third Sector Added To Growing Methodology Pipeline
The decision adds renewable power to an expanding set of project types now covered under the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM), joining earlier methodologies for methane from landfill gas and nitrous oxide (N2O) from nitric acid production.
The Supervisory Body also updated registry procedures—the infrastructure required to issue, hold, transfer, and track credits—and deferred a decision on household cooking energy efficiency, requesting further work on non-permanence, uncertainty, and conservativeness before finalizing that methodology.
The timing is significant. Countries have pledged to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030, a goal requiring substantially more investment than current flows provide.
National climate plans submitted to the UN show many countries’ 2030 renewable targets depend fully or partly on international support. The incoming COP31 presidency has also proposed raising electricity’s share of global energy from roughly 20% today to 35% by 2035.
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“The mechanism is increasingly moving into sectors that matter for people’s daily lives and for countries’ climate plans,” said Mkhuthazi Steleki, Supervisory Body chair, adding that the methodology was designed conservatively to avoid compromising the Paris Agreement’s integrity standards.
Jacqui Ruesga, the Body’s vice-chair, said crediting familiar technologies still requires careful design: “With this methodology, we have put practical rules and conservative safeguards together. That is the balance a high-integrity mechanism needs.”
The Body’s final 2026 meeting before COP31 is scheduled for October 5–9 in Bonn.
Read more: Opinion: Should Renewable Energy Certificates Be Replaced By High-Integrity Carbon Credits?
