India and Japan Launch Operational Manual for the Joint Crediting Mechanism

1. At a Glance

• JCM is a bilateral carbon-crediting mechanism between India and Japan. It runs under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, which covers cooperative approaches between countries [1].
• Its aims are to deploy advanced low-carbon technologies, mobilise climate finance, help technology cooperation and support high-integrity emission reductions and removals in India [1].
• The Operational Manual moves the JCM from institutional preparation to implementation. It sets out the full project cycle, from the Project Idea Note to the issuance and authorisation of JCM credits [1].
• UPSC relevance: it links carbon markets, the Paris Agreement architecture (ITMOs and corresponding adjustments), India–Japan strategic ties and climate finance. All of these are examined in both Prelims and GS-III.

2. Why in the News

• On 30 September 2026, Japan's Ambassador to India, H.E. Mr. Keiichi Ono, and the then Secretary (MoEFCC), Shri Tanmay Kumar, jointly launched the Operational Manual for the India–Japan JCM in New Delhi [1].
• PIB (MoEFCC) issued the press release on 05 October 2026 (Release ID 2319373) [1].

3. Background & Evolution

• Rationale: Article 6.2 lets countries cooperate bilaterally and transfer mitigation outcomes. Japan runs the JCM as such a cooperative approach, and it involves Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) [2].
• Japan's domestic architecture: Japan created a JCM Promotion and Utilization Council under its Plan for Global Warming Countermeasures. A Joint Committee works with this Council [2].
• JCM registry: it has operated since November 2015. Japan told the UNFCCC that an upgraded registry would be operational by Q2 2026, with a provisional ITMO registry running alongside it until then [2].
• India–Japan timeline:
• 7 Aug 2025: Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) on the JCM signed [1]
• 8 Jun 2026: Rules of Implementation (RoI) adopted [1]
• 30 Sep 2026: Operational Manual launched [1]

4. Core Static Facts

Key terms

• ITMO: a mitigation outcome transferred between countries under Article 6.2 [2].
• Corresponding adjustment: an accounting step that stops the same reduction being counted twice, once by the host and once by the buyer [2].
• Authorisation: formal government approval for an ITMO to be used towards an NDC or other purposes. Under the JCM, the Joint Committee grants it at project registration [2].

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Environmental

• The mechanism is meant to produce high-integrity emission reductions and removals in India [1].
• Corresponding adjustments are central to integrity. If India authorises credits to Japan, those tonnes cannot also count towards India's NDC [2].
• Risk: if India transfers its cheap abatement, it may later be left with costlier options for its own NDC targets.

Economic

• The JCM mobilises climate finance and channels advanced low-carbon technology into India [1].
• It gives Indian project developers a route to sell credits abroad, alongside the domestic carbon market.
• Japanese firms can gain market access for their clean technology.

Geopolitical / Strategic

• It adds to the India–Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership, with a climate and green-technology layer on top of the infrastructure and investment ties.
• It aims to strengthen confidence and transparency in international carbon markets [1].
• It positions India as a host country under Article 6.2 rather than only a recipient of multilateral finance.

Governance / Transparency

• The Manual gives a clear, transparent and comprehensive procedural framework for the project cycle [1].
• UNFCCC technical experts have reviewed Japan's JCM reporting and asked for more transparency on how its registry complies with decision 6/CMA.4 [2]. This shows the external scrutiny Article 6.2 arrangements face.

Scientific / Technological

• The focus is on advanced low-carbon technologies and technology cooperation [1].
• Emission reductions are measured through methodologies approved within the JCM, with MRV (measurement, reporting and verification) running from PIN to issuance [1].

6. Recent Developments (last 12–18 months)

• 7 Aug 2025: India–Japan MoC on the JCM signed [1].
• 8 Jun 2026: Rules of Implementation adopted [1].
• Q2 2026 (Japan's stated target): upgraded JCM registry to become operational, replacing the provisional ITMO registry [2].
• 30 Sep 2026: Operational Manual launched in New Delhi [1].
• 05 Oct 2026: PIB press release issued by MoEFCC [1].

7. Prelims Hooks

• The India–Japan JCM operates under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, not Article 6.4 [1].
• Indian nodal ministry for the JCM: MoEFCC (not MNRE or MEA) [1].
• India–Japan MoC on the JCM signed on 7 August 2025 [1].
• Rules of Implementation (RoI) adopted on 8 June 2026 [1].
• Operational Manual launched on 30 September 2026 in New Delhi [1].
• Launched jointly by Japan's Ambassador Keiichi Ono and Secretary (MoEFCC) Tanmay Kumar [1].
• The JCM project cycle starts with a Project Idea Note (PIN) and ends with issuance and authorisation of JCM credits [1].
• The JCM is designed to support emission reductions and removals in India [1].
• Under the JCM, the Joint Committee authorises ITMOs at project registration [2].
• The Joint Committee has representatives of both governments, Japan and the partner country [2].
• The JCM registry has operated since November 2015 [2].
• In Japan, the JCM Promotion and Utilization Council handles JCM credit authorisation and corresponding-adjustment methods [2].
• ITMO stands for Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcome [2].

8. How India Tries Not to Sell Its Cheapest Cuts

• The note names the risk. India has already tried to guard against it.
• The risk is simple. Suppose India sells its easiest and cheapest emission cuts to Japan. India could then be left with only the costly cuts to meet its own NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution, India's own climate promise under the Paris Agreement).
• India's answer is a positive list: only activities on this list can trade credits under Article 6.2 [4].

• The list has mostly new and expensive technologies. These include green hydrogen, compressed bio-gas, offshore wind, solar thermal power, sustainable aviation fuel, tidal and other ocean energy, and CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage, which catches CO₂ and stores or reuses it) as a removal activity [4].

• Look at what is missing from the list

• Plain solar and wind power are not on the list. Renewable energy qualifies only for the stored part of power from renewables with storage [4].
• India is already building cheap solar and wind for its own targets. It keeps those tonnes for its own NDC and sells only the tonnes it would struggle to pay for alone.

• The government says this lets carbon-credit trading go ahead "without adversely impacting India's NDC commitments" [4].

• What the list does not settle

• The list controls which projects can sell. It does not control how many tonnes India gives away through corresponding adjustments. That is decided project by project, when the Joint Committee registers a project and authorises its credits [2].
• So the real protection depends on how strictly India uses its vote in the Joint Committee, not on the list alone.

9. What UN Reviewers Found Wrong in Mongolia's JCM

• Why Mongolia matters to India
• Mongolia has run the JCM with Japan since 8 January 2013. It is one of the oldest partners [3].

• In June 2026, UNFCCC experts published their review of how Mongolia runs its side of the JCM [3]. India is starting the same journey, so the same weak points can appear here.

• Fault 1: The approvals could not be found

• Mongolia said it authorises JCM credits and that the papers would be on the JCM website [3].
• The reviewers found no authorisation documents there, even though Mongolia had several projects in the JCM registry [3].

• The experts called this a significant problem. Without clear authorisation, nobody can check that a tonne is not counted twice [3].

• Fault 2: The law came after the projects

• Mongolia said that under its legal system, no procedure can be made without a parent law first. Its climate change law was still in draft [3].

• So credits were already being issued while the national rules for authorising them did not yet exist.

• Fault 3: The registry does not record enough about each credit

• Japan's own common rules for the JCM registry do not require the serial number of a credit to show whether it is authorised, or its vintage (the year the cut actually happened) [3].

• Japan is building a provisional ITMO registry and a new JCM registry to fix this [3]. This is the same gap that experts raised in Japan's own review [2].

• Fault 4: Avoiding double counting does not mean the climate gains

• The reviewers made a sharp point. Corresponding adjustments stop double counting, "but could still lead to a net increase in global emissions" [3].
• Why? If the starting estimate of emissions (the baseline) is set too high, the project looks like it saved more than it really did. Japan then counts tonnes that were never really cut.
• The experts said Mongolia had not shown clearly that its JCM baselines were set below business-as-usual (what emissions would be if nothing changed) [3].

10. Is the JCM Just Japan Buying Its Climate Target Abroad?

• The strongest objection
• Japan pays for a project in India and takes the credits towards its own NDC.
• India hosts the project and gives up those tonnes through a corresponding adjustment [2].
• So, the critic says, a rich country meets its target cheaply on a developing country's land, and Japanese firms also sell their technology.

• The old Kyoto CDM faced the same charge. Mongolia's case shows that credits from the older period stay in the system: three of its six JCM projects had crediting periods that ended before 2022, and they sit outside its current Article 6 cooperation [3].

• What is right about the objection

• The gain to the atmosphere depends on honest baselines. UN reviewers warned that even with corresponding adjustments, global emissions can still go up [3].

• The accounting is hard to check. Mongolia counts its yearly NDC by using the average yearly number of ITMOs transferred across 2021–2030 [3]. This method is allowed, but it is easy to get wrong and hard for outsiders to verify.

• Why the objection does not fully hold for India

• India chose what it will sell. Its positive list is limited to costly, new technologies that India would struggle to fund alone [4]. India is not giving up its cheap cuts.
• Projects need approval from both governments in the Joint Committee [2]. India can say no.

• The credits pay for technology like green hydrogen and CCUS that India would otherwise have to fund itself [4].

• Fair verdict: the JCM is not a giveaway by design. But whether it is fair in practice depends on India's baselines and paperwork, not on the treaty text.

11. What MoEFCC Should Do Before the First Credit Is Issued

• Publish every authorisation, project by project
• Under Article 6 rules (decision 4/CMA.6), a country must give a copy of the authorisation for the cooperative approach, for the ITMOs and for the entities involved [3].
• Mongolia was marked down because these papers could not be found [3].

• MoEFCC should publish each JCM authorisation on its own website and on the UNFCCC reporting platform the day it is granted.

• Insist that each credit's record shows its approval and its year

• Japan's present JCM registry rules leave out authorisation and vintage from the credit's identifier [3].

• India should press in the Joint Committee for Indian JCM credits to be issued only in the upgraded registry that meets decision 6/CMA.4 [2].

• Make every baseline show that it is below business-as-usual

• The JCM already has tests for this. For example, a project must beat the efficiency of the most common equipment in the local market over the last three years, or use a grid emission factor lower than the official one [3].

• India should require each project to show in writing which test it uses. That is exactly what reviewers found missing in Mongolia [3].

• Have the rules ready before the projects arrive

• Mongolia had to build its legal base while projects were already running [3].
• India has the NDAIAPA (National Designated Authority for Implementation of the Paris Agreement), which already approves which activities qualify [4]. Its project-level authorisation steps should be public before the first Indian JCM credit is issued.

12. Anchors for Answers

• Data: India's Article 6.2 positive list covers green hydrogen, compressed bio-gas, offshore wind, ocean energy, sustainable aviation fuel, green ammonia and CCUS. Renewables count only for the stored component [4]
• Data: Mongolia has 6 projects in the JCM registry. Three had crediting periods that ended before 2022 and sit outside its Article 6 cooperation [3]
• Report/Committee: UNFCCC Article 6 Technical Expert Review of Mongolia's initial report, FCCC/A6/IRTERR.1/2025/MNG/Add.1, 2 June 2026. It found missing authorisation papers, registry gaps and unclear baselines [3]
• Law/Case: Article 6.2, Paris Agreement; decision 2/CMA.3 (Article 6.2 guidance); decision 6/CMA.4 (registry requirements); decision 4/CMA.6 (what an authorisation must cover) [2][3]
• Comparison: Mongolia–Japan JCM (since 2013): credits were issued before Mongolia's authorisation law and rules existed, and UN reviewers marked this as a significant problem [3]
• Scheme: NDAIAPA's positive list of Article 6.2 activities is India's main tool to stop the JCM from eating into its own NDC [4]

13. Mains Relevance

• GS-III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation; climate change; carbon markets and climate finance.
• GS-II: Bilateral agreements involving India and affecting its interests (India–Japan); important international institutions (UNFCCC, Paris Agreement).
• Possible question stems: 1. Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement offers developing countries both an opportunity and a risk. Examine with reference to the India–Japan Joint Crediting Mechanism. (15 marks) 2. What is a 'corresponding adjustment'? How can India make sure bilateral carbon-credit transfers do not undermine its own NDC commitments? (10 marks) 3. Climate cooperation is becoming a new pillar of the India–Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership. Discuss. (15 marks)

14. Related Topics to Study Next

• Article 6.2 vs Article 6.4 (Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism, PACM): bilateral cooperative approaches vs the UN-supervised centralised mechanism.
• Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), India: India's domestic compliance market. Know how it interacts with credits transferred internationally.
• National Designated Authority for Implementation of the Paris Agreement (NDAIAPA): India's body that decides which activities are eligible for Article 6.
• India's NDC (2022 update) and Net Zero 2070: the targets that ITMO transfers must not undermine.
• Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Kyoto Protocol: the predecessor offset mechanism and why it lost credibility.
• India–Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership: the wider bilateral context (Clean Energy Partnership, investment targets).
• Voluntary carbon markets and integrity initiatives: how they differ from compliance and Article 6 units.

15. NCERT Concepts to Revise

• Internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (Economy): ITMOs are the credits Japan receives under the JCM; the whole mechanism is built on transferring them.
• Nationally determined contributions (Economy): Credits count towards the buyer's NDC, and India must protect its own NDC while selling credits.
• Paris Agreement (Geography): The JCM runs under Article 6.2 of this treaty, so its rules come from here.
• Double counting (Economy): Corresponding adjustments exist to stop one emission cut being counted by both India and Japan.
• Clean development mechanism (Economy): The Kyoto-era predecessor offset scheme; the JCM faces similar integrity criticism and is often compared with it.
• Carbon market (Economy): The JCM is a bilateral carbon market; it sits alongside India's domestic market and the UN-run one.

16. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• Article 6.2 vs 6.4: The JCM is a 6.2 bilateral cooperative approach [1]. It is not the UN-supervised 6.4 mechanism, and it is not the old Kyoto CDM.
• Wrong ministry: India's nodal ministry is MoEFCC [1]. MNRE (renewables) and MEA (diplomacy) are common wrong options.
• Confusing the three documents: MoC (Aug 2025) → RoI (Jun 2026) → Operational Manual (Sep 2026) [1]. Know which came first and what each one does: political framework, rules, procedures.
• Launch date vs release date: the Manual was launched on 30 Sep 2026, and the PIB release is dated 05 Oct 2026 [1].
• "Credits = free money" fallacy: credits authorised as ITMOs need corresponding adjustments [2]. India gives up counting those tonnes towards its own NDC.