Sweden and Ivory Coast Sign Article 6 Bilateral Agreement at Cop 31

Sweden and Ivory Coast signed a bilateral agreement under Article 6.2 of the Paris climate agreement on Friday, the first such deal for the West African nation.

The agreement, finalized on the sidelines of the UN Cop 31 climate conference in Antalya, Turkey, allows Sweden to finance emissions reductions in Ivory Coast and count those savings toward its own climate targets. Per a report from Argus Media, Sweden will use these reductions to go beyond its mandatory requirements rather than counting them against its nationally determined contribution (NDC), which falls under the European Union’s collective mandate.

This move shows increasing interest in the "Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes" (ITMOs) framework. Under Article 6.2, developed nations provide financing for green projects in host countries in exchange for the ability to claim the resulting greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions. The Swedish Energy Agency said that the specific activities in Ivory Coast will focus on renewable energy, sustainable transportation, and the broader green transition.

“Electrification is not an end in itself, electrification is a means of decarbonising,” a source from the French climate ministry told Argus Media.

The Mechanics of Global Carbon Transfers

The implementation of this agreement is being managed by the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), supported by the Sweden-financed Article 6 Climate Cooperation Facility (ACCTIF). Beyond direct project funding, the GGGI is also providing “readiness” support to ensure Ivory Coast can effectively manage these new market mechanisms.

Sweden has become an aggressive practitioner of this bilateral model. The nation has already established Article 6.2 agreements with several other countries, including Ghana, Kenya, Nepal, Zambia, and the Dominican Republic. It also maintains a memorandum of understanding with Rwanda. In a separate, more experimental move, Sweden signed a memorandum of understanding with Switzerland to allow for the transfer of a “symbolic” amount of ITMOs derived from captured industrial emissions.

Sweden and Ivory Coast Sign Article 6 Bilateral Agreement at Cop 31

Diplomatic Tensions Challenge Cop 31 Carbon and Energy Goals

“We’d need Republican champions to step up,” Whitehouse told Argus Media.

The lack of American momentum contrasts with the rapid development of carbon systems in Asia. According to a policy paper from the GGGI presented in Antalya, Southeast Asian nations like Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam are currently developing domestic emissions trading systems (ETSs).

Unlike larger neighbors like Japan or South Korea, these economies lack significant decarbonization funding and must rely heavily on external finance and Article 6 mechanisms to meet their targets.