Progress and challenges in implementing non-market approaches

To date, more than 20 organizations are registered as support providers to implement non-market approaches, NMAs for short, under Article 6.8 of the Paris Agreement. NMAs, in simple terms, constitute mechanisms that allow parties and non-parties to the agreement to collaborate in achieving nationally determined contributions, or NDCs, outside of carbon markets.

Those mechanisms serve as tools for mitigating and adapting to climate change that should also support sustainable development and poverty eradication. NMAs, theoretically, can cover a wide range of initiatives that can support efforts to foster sustainability in food systems, and that may include agroecology.

The number of accredited Article 6.8 support providers represents a considerable jump since CIAT was registered as one in early July 2024. At that time, the list had less than a handful.

While the pool of Article 6.8 support providers has widened since the UNFCCC NMA Platform became operational about a year ago, it is a different story for the registration of NMAs on the platform. As of this writing, the Adaptation Benefits Mechanism remained the lone NMA registered on the platform. This reality connotes not only the challenge of identifying NMAs but also of registering them on the platform.

As a rule, only the national focal points for Article 6.8 can submit NMAs to the platform, and the submission must have the support of another party.  The Climate Land Ambition and Rights Alliance, which, like CIAT and CGIAR, is an observer to the UNFCCC, has criticized this two-party requirement. In its most recent submission, CLARA argues that the mandate “is unnecessary and undermines climate action under Article 6.8,” emphasizing “it is inconsistent with many other aspects of the Paris Agreement, including processes and procedures agreed under Article 6, and more specifically 6.8 itself.”

One issue tied to the challenge noted above is the designation of national focal points for Article 6.8. Based on the list updated on 3 April 2025, 92 parties have designated national focal points, up from the number since COP 29 in Baku, which stood at 79.

Nonetheless, more than a hundred parties have not named their national focal points, considering that the Paris Agreement has 195 signatories. That means not all parties can maximize yet the opportunities for climate action under the agreement.

Recent submissions from some parties with national focal points indicate barriers to fully engaging with the NMA Platform. Poland and the European Commission on behalf of the European Union and its Member States note “the lack of clarity regarding the contributions that should be posted on the platform as the main barrier, given the wide scope of NMA projects,” thus recommending the creation of clear and transparent practices and guidelines for nominating projects for submission on the platform, without duplicating existing work and processes.” Mauritius and the Philippines, meanwhile, pointed out similar barriers, such as limited awareness and technical understanding of the platform, insufficient frameworks to implement NMAs, and the lack of dedicated financial and technical resources to support engagement with NMAs​.

In previous submissions to the UNFCC, including to the upcoming 2025 Forum of the Standing Committee on Finance, the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT recommended tapping the Global Climate Fund to build the capacity of Article 6.8 national focal points. The submissions argued for replicating the approach of the GCF in supporting its national designated authorities via tailored readiness programs, to support capacity building of the national focal points.

For the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, one of the goals is to support the registration of the “nature for peace” project presented at the 2024 June UN Climate Meetings, Given that Colombia is the host of the project, that entails submission by its Article 6.8 national focal point with agreement by another. Per the updated list of Article 6.8 national focal points noted above, Colombia has yet to designate one.

The negotiations on Article 6.8 at the upcoming June Climate Meetings in Bonn, Germany, are expected to discuss the challenges to use and engage with the NMA Platform and how NMAs can support the implementation of NDCs. Negotiations at the UNFCCC provide the blueprint for national policies and programs on climate action by setting guidance that Parties translate into national strategies.

Ma. Eliza J. Villarino follows the negotiations on Article 6.8 of the Paris Agreement. Representing CGIAR, she was invited to present at in-session workshops of the Glasgow Committee on Non-Market Approaches at the 2024 June UN Climate Meetings in Bonn, Germany, and COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Eliza is the contact person for CIAT in its role as Article 6.8 support provider.