While the mechanisms of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement are gradually entering the operationalization phase, Tunisia is accelerating its preparations to integrate into it.
Between carbon funding opportunities and institutional challenges, the country is starting a strategic turn.
La Presse – After several years of multilateral negotiations, the rules for the application of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on carbon markets were gradually finalized at climate conferences, in particular from COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, with additional technical advances at the following COPs, including COP29 in Baku in 2024.
This is a milestone in the global fight against global warming and in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. By making available to signatory States cooperation mechanisms to achieve their Nationally Determined Contributions (CDN), Article 6 constitutes a structuring lever. It aims to accelerate the decarbonization of economies, in particular by facilitating the financing of low-carbon projects.
If Article 6.2 allows the exchange of « mitigation results transferred internationally »
(Itmos) between two or more parties, Article 6.4 establishes a centralised, internationally supervised mechanism for generating carbon credits from certified emission reductions. In other words, Article 6 offers States the opportunity to cooperate and pool their efforts to achieve their climate objectives, while creating funding opportunities, especially for developing countries.
Tunisia, as a signatory of the Paris Agreement, has initiated a process to implement the provisions of Article 6 and to prepare the establishment of a carbon market, an essential step for its integration into international markets. After developing and updating its Nationally Determined Contribution (CDN), Tunisia also carried out greenhouse gas inventories covering the period 1990-2024.
The country is currently working on the finalization of its institutional system as well as the legal texts necessary for the operationalization of Article 6. Another crucial step to be finalized: the implementation of a MRV system (Measure, Reporting and Verification). This mechanism makes it possible to guarantee transparency, environmental integrity and to avoid double counting of emission reductions transferred between countries.
These issues have recently been discussed, particularly bilateral cooperation and the prospect of establishing a regulated market in Tunisia under Article 6.2, during an event organized by the Centre des climatiques changements de l’lace.
A committed process, but still unfinished
Returning to the role of the National Agency for Energy Management (Anme) in the implementation of climate commitments, Mouna Besbes, head of department at the Agency, recalled that, since the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol, the agency has contributed to mobilizing climate funding through existing mechanisms. A legal experience which she capitalized to support the transition to the arrangements of the Paris Agreement.
Citing the « Global Carbon Market » project, implemented in partnership with GIZ, and which aims to strengthen the capacities of stakeholders, the manager said that this program has made it possible to initiate in-depth reflection on the strategic orientations necessary for the establishment of a carbon market in Tunisia. As part of this same process, ANM has also developed a portfolio of priority projects in the energy and industry sectors, in connection with the mechanisms of Article 6.
After establishing a global vision of the use of Article 6, the Agency developed a roadmap for the operationalization of this vision. Besbes added that today, the establishment of a robust governance framework is necessary for the success of this process
That is why the agency is currently working on the creation of a designated National Authority (AND), responsible for validating projects, ensuring compliance and authorizing international transfers of mitigation results.
It also indicated that a new version of Tunisia’s CDN has raised the carbon intensity reduction target by 2035 compared to 2010. The energy sector, which concentrates most of the emissions, is the main lever for action, with a majority share in the reduction targets.
The manager specified that pending the complete operationalization of Article 6, the Anme has, since 2022, launched a program to support manufacturers for the accounting of their emissions and the calculation of their carbon footprint.
To date, several hundred actors have already been trained. Mrs. Besbes also recalled that the Agency has launched a « DecrboAct » platform, which facilitates the calculation of the carbon footprint, according to ISO standards and has started the calculation of the national electricity emission factor (a coefficient that makes it possible to measure the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted, on average, to produce and consume 1 kWh of electricity in a given country).
