#17 Beatriz Granziera - Carbon Offsets and Paris Article 6: The History, Recent Developments and Possible Future

International carbon credits are back in the policy conversation—especially after the EU’s new 2040 proposal reopened the question of whether (and how) Paris Agreement Article 6 credits might play a role.

But “offsets” are a loaded term for a reason: past systems created large volumes of credits, and a recurring critique is that too many didn’t represent real, additional emissions cuts.

So what is Article 6, what’s genuinely different under Paris, and what still isn’t settled?

In Episode #17, I’m joined by Beatriz Granziera (Senior Policy Advisor at The Nature Conservancy), who works on Article 6 negotiations and implementation, including supporting developing countries on domestic Article 6 policy.

We cover:

• What Article 6 is trying to do—and the difference between 6.2 (bilateral/decentralized) and 6.4 (UN-governed centralized mechanism)
• Why Paris differs from Kyoto: every country has an NDC, so accounting rules matter—and how corresponding adjustments aim to prevent double counting
• A market reality check: many agreements, but very little actual trading so far—and why countries may be cautious about selling reductions they might need for their own targets
• The EU angle: why EU demand could reshape standards (and why details matter more than slogans)
• Transitioning old Kyoto/CDM projects into Article 6.4: what “flooding” risks look like in practice and why host-country approval becomes pivotal
• The core tension ahead: quality vs scale—rules can be strong on paper, but too stringent rules can leave a mechanism that can’t generate meaningful supply

Article 6 Explainer by the Nature Conservancy: https://www.nature.org/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/documents/TNC_Article_6_Explainer.pdf

For questions, comments or suggestions, you can contact me at arvid.viaene.ce@gmail.com