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The Climate Action Center of Excellence (CACE), launched by the Gulf Organisation for Research and Development (GORD) at COP28 in Dubai, proudly celebrates its one-year anniversary at COP29 in Baku. Over the past 12 months, CACE has established itself as a catalyst for climate action and global collaboration, promoting innovative solutions and capacity building for achieving the Paris Agreement goals.

Reflecting on this milestone, Dr. Yousef Alhorr, Chairman of GORD, emphasized that in just one year,
“CACE has made significant strides in strengthening climate action networks, building capacities, and advancing Article 6 frameworks to support robust, equitable carbon markets. Our work demonstrates GORD’s unwavering commitment to leading on climate and sustainability. We look forward to continuing this journey, fostering collaboration and delivering impactful solutions for a low-carbon future.”

Key Achievements of CACE Over the Past Year:

• Driving Article 6 Implementation and Capacity Building

  • Organized and delivered multiple international training sessions on Article 6 frameworks, empowering policymakers and industry leaders in diverse regions, including Tunisia—in partnership with the Article 6 Implementation Partnership —and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi being scheduled for this December.
  • We are advancing with the development of robust and inclusive Article 6 regulatory and institutional frameworks for Tunisia and Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  • Produced educational video series to demystify the complex mechanisms of Article 6 and its impact on global carbon markets. The first video of the series is available on YouTube with four more to be published in the course of the next months

• Innovative Partnerships and ITMO Auctions

  • Collaborating with Emsurge to conduct the first auction of Internationally Transferable Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs), a more transparent and efficient way to trade in the carbon market. The first selected project is establishing a new benchmark by setting the ITMO reserve price at US$ 31/ton, demonstrating demand for high-quality mitigation outcomes. The auction project spotlight is available here.

• Strengthening Paris-aligned Carbon Markets

  • Published a series of influential papers addressing key topics such as the role of Article 6 in enhancing market coherence and reducing fragmentation, Article 6 potential synergies with CORSIA and the European Union’s CBAM, innovative mechanisms for scaling and integrating global carbon markets, and best practices in governance and transparency to improve accountability and efficiency across trading platforms. All articles are available here.

• Influential Global Advocacy

  • Represented CACE at key international conferences, including the Baku Energy Forum, the 2024 Bonn Climate Change Conference (SB60), the Climate Change Expertise Centers (ANCCEC) Conference in Morocco, the African Union Green Recovery Action Plan (AU GRAP) Green Investment Roundtable in Senegal, Cairo Sustainable Energy Week in Egypt, and the Capacity-building Alliance of Sustainable Investment (CASI) Sustainability Forum in Doha, promoting thought leadership and innovative solutions in carbon reduction strategies.
  • Hosted and participated in multiple webinars related to Article 6 operationalization. For instance, the “Article 6 of the Paris Agreement: From Talk to Action” webinar, co-hosted with HFW attracted participants from 60 countries. The recording is available here. CACE’s most recent participation was a conversation with BeZero Carbon and Perspectives Climate Group on October 17, titled “Article 6: How to scale the ITMO Market,” watch the recording here.

• Strategic Alliances to Accelerate Climate Solutions

  • Launched a landmark partnership with Rasmal Ventures to leverage scalable climate finance solutions.
  • Partnered with the Jospong Group of Companies for the development of high-integrity carbon projects in Ghana, the first of which was selected for the ITMO auction in partnership with Emsurge.
  • Collaborating with Acquinex to provide detailed assessments of Article 6 Letters of Authorizations (LOAs) for projects registered with independent standards.