GGGI and SEA to develop four mitigation activities generating ITMOs in energy, waste, and manufacturing

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SEOUL, Republic of Korea, Oct 23 2020 - Following the cooperation agreement signed in December last year for the Mobilizing Article 6 Trading Structure (MATS) Program, the Swedish Energy Agency (SEA) and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) have agreed to further develop four mitigation activities with the goal of completing transactions of internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs). 75% of these activities will come from GGGI’s pipeline of bankable projects across its Members and partners. Out of the four proposed activities, two will target the energy sector in Ethiopia, one will be focused on the waste sector in Nepal, and one will focus on the manufacturing sector in Cambodia.

“GGGI is excited about this important program milestone. The MATS program will support our Member and partner countries to access international carbon finance, build regulatory frameworks and institutional capacity to increase their ambition and go beyond the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs),” explained Ms. Fenella Aouane, GGGI’s Head of Carbon Pricing Unit.

“Successful implementation of the cooperative approaches under Article 6 is a new area of focus that allows for scalable and transformative changes needed to meet the global ambitions of the Paris Agreement.”

“We are thrilled to have been able to green-light development of the first batch of Article 6 Pilot activities under the MATS program, less than one year since the program was first conceived. We hope that these pilot activities will deliver concrete results for the host countries in achieving their NDC targets, while also providing lessons for various stakeholders as the Article 6 rulemaking process continues,” said Mr. Christopher Zink, Senior Advisor at the Swedish Energy Agency. “Environmental integrity is the key focus area for Sweden when it comes to testing Article 6, including scalability, additionality, conservative baselines, attribution and the avoidance of double counting.”

Through joint collaboration, GGGI and SEA will help countries to gain access to international finance, enabling them to unlock projects, which will not only contribute to reducing additional carbon emissions but will also enhance ambition in NDCs. Furthermore, both organizations will play a key role in supporting governments in establishing frameworks, that will create the enabling environment for international trading of mitigation outcomes under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

The SEA-GGGI MATS Program is a pilot project aimed at catalyzing international trading of mitigation outcomes to support increasing climate ambitions. This month’s recent agreement – as part of the project progression, selecting specific mitigation activities, will aim to enable host countries to gain access to international carbon finance, unlocking projects which will generate additional emissions reductions, ultimately enabling greater ambition in NDCs. This work will add onto the $1.6 billion USD of green investment already mobilized by GGGI since 2015. Importantly, the program will also help to establish the enabling environments with the host countries to ensure sustainable transformational change by supporting them to put in place the governance frameworks required to engage in international trading, including systems and procedures to help avoid double counting and ensure environmental integrity.

About SEA
SEA supports the Swedish Government and Society as well as external actors with facts, knowledge, and analysis of supply and use of energy in Sweden. SEA provides funding for research on new and renewable energy technologies, smart grids, as well as vehicles and transport fuels. SEA also supports business development that promotes commercialisation of energy related innovations and ensures that promising cleantech solutions can be exported. Official energy statistics, and the management of instruments such as the Electricity Certificate System and the EU Emission Trading System, are part of SEA’s responsibility.

Furthermore, SEA has long been the home of Sweden’s CDM and JI program; and is now actively participating in international climate collaborations under the Paris Agreement.

About GGGI
GGGI was established as an international intergovernmental organization in 2012 at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. Its vision is “a low-carbon, resilient world of strong, inclusive, and sustainable growth” and its mission “to support Members in the transformation of their economies into a green growth economic model”. GGGI does this through technical assistance to: reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement; create green jobs; increase access to sustainable services (such as clean affordable energy, sustainable waste management); improve air quality; sustain natural capital for adequate supply of ecosystem services; and enhance adaptation to climate change.

To learn more about GGGI, see https://www.gggi.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter,
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