What is a 'corresponding adjustment'? How can India make sure bilateral carbon-credit transfers do not undermine its own NDC commitments?

Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement lets countries trade emission cuts bilaterally. India now does this with Japan through the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM), whose Operational Manual was launched in September 2026 [1]. Every tonne India sells abroad is a tonne it can no longer count for itself, so India must sell selectively.

Corresponding adjustment: meaning

• It is an accounting entry made when an emission cut is transferred abroad as an ITMO (Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcome). The host country adds the transferred tonnes back to its emissions balance, and the buyer subtracts them from its own.
• Its purpose is to prevent double counting, so that one tonne cut in India cannot count towards both India's and Japan's NDC.
• Under the JCM, a Joint Committee with representatives of both governments authorises ITMOs at the time of project registration [2]. Once a credit is authorised, India gives up that tonne.

Project in India cuts 100 t CO2
          │ authorised as ITMO
          ▼
Japan: counts 100 t towards its NDC
India: adds 100 t back to its own balance (corresponding adjustment)

Fig.: One tonne, one claimant

Safeguarding India's NDC

• Positive list: Only notified activities can trade credits under Article 6.2. These include green hydrogen, compressed biogas, offshore wind, sustainable aviation fuel and CCUS. Renewable energy qualifies only for its stored component [3]. Cheap solar and wind therefore stay with India for its own NDC.
• Careful Joint Committee vote: The list decides which projects can sell, not how many tonnes. India should limit the volumes it authorises, project by project [2].
• Transparent authorisation: UNFCCC reviewers rated Mongolia's unclear JCM authorisation arrangements a significant inconsistency [4]. MoEFCC should publish every authorisation it grants.
• Sound registry: Japan's JCM registry specifications did not require a credit's identifier to show its authorisation status or vintage [4]. India should insist that its credits are issued only in a registry that complies with decision 6/CMA.4.
• Rules before projects: Mongolia was still drafting its climate law while JCM credits were already being issued [4]. NDAIAPA's project-level procedures should be public before India issues its first JCM credit.
• Conservative baselines: Each project should show that its baseline is below business-as-usual, so that the savings it claims are not overstated.

Corresponding adjustments keep carbon trading honest, but they make every exported tonne a debit on India's own account. If India sells only tonnes from frontier technologies, votes carefully in the Joint Committee and publishes every authorisation, it can attract Japanese finance and technology [1] while protecting its NDC and its Net Zero 2070 goal. This serves the environmental integrity that Article 6 is meant to secure.