The Article 6.2 Procurement Wave Is Here: What UNDP's Private Sector Call Means for ITMO Supply
For years, Article 6.2 has been a framework on paper. With UNDP actively soliciting private sector ITMO suppliers and Switzerland's buyer pipeline reaching 20 million units, the mechanism is shifting from pilot to procurement.
The United Nations Development Programme did something in late 2025 that should have gotten more attention than it did. It published a Request for Expressions of Interest inviting private sector organizations to supply Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement. Not a consultation paper. Not a working group. A procurement call.
The initial REOI targets seven countries: Ukraine, Peru, Senegal, Georgia, Kenya, Tunisia, and Malawi. Six of those are Switzerland's bilateral partner countries under Article 6.2. The second phase — a formal Call for Proposals — launches this year across additional host countries. Eligible project types include renewable energy, energy efficiency, electric mobility, and methane reduction in agriculture.
The Countries in Play
The Demand Side Is Real
Switzerland isn't the only buyer, but it's the most active. The KliK Foundation — the entity mandated under Swiss law to offset transport sector emissions — reportedly has a pipeline exceeding 20 million ITMOs at an average price of approximately $40 per tonne. That's not a target or an aspiration. That's a procurement pipeline backed by regulatory mandate.
Japan's Joint Crediting Mechanism is active across Southeast Asia. Singapore has signed bilateral deals with 15 countries and ran a tender for nature-based credits under Article 6 that attracted 17 offers. Sweden is piloting ITMO acquisition. Norway just participated in the first cross-border CDR ITMO transfer with Switzerland, structured by ClimeFi and involving Swiss Air Lines, SwissRe, UBS, and other major corporates.
The Authorization Bottleneck
So why has only one Article 6.2 transfer actually been completed — the Switzerland-Thailand transaction in January 2024? The answer is the authorization bottleneck. Host countries need to develop national implementation frameworks, establish institutional processes for authorizing ITMO transfers, and build the capacity to process corresponding adjustments. That takes time and bureaucratic investment that many developing countries are still working through.
But there are signs of movement. The Swiss ITMO buyer has publicly expressed confidence in overcoming the bottleneck in 2026. The UNDP's initiative is specifically designed to help host countries build the institutional infrastructure they need. And COP31 in Antalya this November will put pressure on resolving the remaining technical details around Article 6.4 authorization.
What This Means for the Timeline
What Project Developers Should Do Now
If you're developing emission reduction projects in any of Switzerland's 13 bilateral partner countries, the window for positioning is open but not indefinite. The UNDP's CfP will prioritize projects that can demonstrate high-integrity ITMO generation — which means robust monitoring, reporting, and verification infrastructure. Projects relying on manual monitoring will struggle to meet the reporting timelines that sovereign buyers require.
Digital MRV isn't optional for this market. When a government buyer needs corresponding adjustments processed on schedule, and when the KliK Foundation is managing a pipeline of 20 million ITMOs, the projects that win procurement are the ones that can deliver verified data continuously — not annually. Verra's dMRV pilot and Gold Standard's interim issuance track both point in the same direction: the Article 6 market will run on digital infrastructure.
The bilateral agreements are signed. The demand is documented. The procurement mechanisms are launching. What's left is execution — and that's where project developers need to be ready.