Authorisations of A6.2 activities

In cooperative climate action in accordance with A6.2, the authorisation of suitable activities is the key tool for quality assurance. It is intended to ensure that only projects that achieve measurable and effective longterm emission reductions and that can be verified on the basis of clear criteria are implemented and made available to interested parties. The basis for this is the activity description, known as the Mitigation Activity Design Document (MADD).

Those who are responsible for this also take charge of the development and detailed description of an activity. They must make all essential elements transparent – i.e. present them in a comprehensible manner, taking into account the specific requirements of the bilateral climate agreement, as well as those of the two partner countries and the Paris Agreement – and they usually call in carbon experts to help them organise the activity.

From Switzerland’s perspective, the description must include the planned measures to reduce emissions, the technologies used and the differentiation from other climate and energy policy tools. In addition, the presumed reference development must be quantified, i.e. there needs to be a breakdown of how greenhouse gas emissions would develop without the activity. The expected annual emission reductions must also be specified, with the underlying calculation method explained here.

The description must also include information on the expected investment and operating costs budgeted for the activity, the expected income and the financing. It must be clearly demonstrated that without revenue from the sale of ITMOs there would be no economic viability.

Also required are an example description of the technology type, a monitoring concept with information on the start of monitoring, information on the method chosen to demonstrate the impact and information on the duration of the activity. Criteria for participation and information on project administration must also be provided, and there may be a need for additional information depending on the type of activity, such as scientific support or proof of durability.

Furthermore, there must be details of how an activity is calculated in addition to the partner country’s national climate target, to which it has committed itself under the Paris Agreement. There must be clear evidence that the partner country could neither finance the activity itself nor implement it alone or realise it to a comparable quality and within a reasonable timeframe without external support due to a lack of the necessary financial, technological and institutional resources. In all of this, the contribution to sustainable development is always important. The activity should have an additional positive effect ("co-benefits") in the partner country and create incentives for further reduction measures. Switzerland also applies these demanding standards to its domestic climate protection activities.

In addition to the requirements of Switzerland, those of the respective partner country must also be taken into account in the preparation of a MADD. The countries already have their own regulations or are currently developing them, and with these they regulate the use of carbon markets, define selection criteria for A6.2 activities and define national framework conditions and sectoral emission reference values.

Each activity and each MADD must therefore be individually tailored to the respective legal, technical and sectoral framework conditions, as well as other national specificities.

The official authorisation of an activity in accordance with A6.2, in which the fulfilment of all requirements is checked by two partner countries, is therefore much more than an administrative act. It is the key tool, as it serves both to guarantee actual emission reductions and to ensure the quality and credibility of the international activity in question.

Before authorisation, the MADD must be assessed by an independent, external validation body on the basis of the comprehensive criteria already mentioned. The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) then examines the documents submitted, including the validation report, to determine whether the activity is suitable for reducing emissions in a way that fulfils all the requirements for permitted use in accordance with A6.2. The technical testing is carried out according to very strict standards and involves considerable expense, especially for new methods. Particularly in the current early phase of the implementation of A6.2, this is affecting a large proportion of the MADDs submitted to date, including the three activities described below. Until robust routines have been established, the review and authorisation process in both Switzerland and the partner countries remains demanding and resource-intensive.

Once the technical review has been completed, each activity is reviewed by an interministerial technical committee to ensure compliance with the highest quality standards. This is followed by an assessment by a federal decision-making body made up of representatives from the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), and if this assessment is also positive, the corresponding authorisation decision is issued, which is valid until 31 December 2030 at the latest. This period is referred to as the crediting period.

As soon as the activity has also undergone all technical assessments and approval processes in the partner country and a "Letter of Authorisation" has been issued, the authorisation becomes legally binding with an authorisation letter from the FOEN.

For this publication, we spoke with people involved in three authorised activities. The texts show what lies behind projects like these – and how sustainable climate action can take shape in practice.