An Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcome (ITMO) is a verified tonne of CO2e that one Paris Agreement Party authorizes for transfer to another Party (or to CORSIA or voluntary buyers) for use toward an NDC or other international mitigation purpose. Every ITMO first transfer triggers a mandatory corresponding adjustment.
Who can authorize the transfer of ITMOs?
Only the Designated National Authority (DNA) of the source (host) Party can authorize an ITMO. The Party must be party to the Paris Agreement, have a communicated NDC, have a national inventory in place, have designated a DNA for Article 6, and have submitted its initial report under decision 2/CMA.3.
What is a corresponding adjustment and why is it mandatory?
A corresponding adjustment is an accounting entry where the source Party adds the transferred tonnes to its reported emissions (making its NDC harder) and the acquiring Party subtracts them. This ensures each tonne of mitigation is counted only once globally. It is mandatory for every ITMO first transfer under decision 2/CMA.3.
How are single-year vs multi-year NDCs handled differently?
Single-year NDCs (absolute target for one year, e.g. 2030) require Parties to use an averaging or indicative trajectory method to spread adjustments across the NDC period and prevent over-selling. Multi-year NDCs (cumulative emissions budget) apply adjustments directly to the budget year-by-year.
Can ITMOs be used for shipping or aviation compliance?
ITMOs with corresponding adjustments are eligible compliance units for CORSIA (aviation). For maritime, IMO CII and FuelEU Maritime do not currently accept ITMOs, but the IMO net-zero framework adopted in 2025 is introducing a global fuel standard and economic measure where ITMO-style units may play a future role.
Where are authorized ITMOs recorded?
Authorized ITMOs and first transfers are recorded in the UNFCCC Centralized Accounting and Reporting Platform (CARP), which includes the Article 6 database. Each Party also reports transactions in its Biennial Transparency Report (BTR) using structured summary tables.