Chile Advances Carbon Trading Plans with National CO₂ Registry Underway

Chile is taking decisive steps to enter the international carbon market, advancing new regulations under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. The upcoming decree will create a national CO₂ registry and establish the foundation for trading verified carbon credits on a global scale.

Alerce Costero National Park, Chile’s biggest forest, home to towering ancient trees and vibrant greenery. AI generated picture.

The framework will allow Chile to manage and track Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs)—the official carbon units exchanged between countries to meet environmental objectives.

‘Over the next months or at the beginning of the next year at the latest, we will have a platform for ITMOs’, said Cristina Figueroa, carbon markets coordinator at the Ministry of Environment, during the Chile Carbon Forum in Santiago.

This progress follows Chile’s announcement that it has issued its first Letters of Authorisation (LoAs), enabling carbon credits generated domestically to be traded internationally. The initial LoAs correspond to a project developed under a bilateral agreement with Switzerland, one of the early adopters of Article 6 mechanisms. Switzerland is expected to issue its matching authorisations shortly, paving the way for the first international carbon trade between the two nations.

According to Figueroa, the first ITMO exchange with Switzerland could take place ‘between 2027 or 2028.’ The project, led by Chilean developer D-Energy, replaces coal-fired power generation with biomass, using a tailored methodology approved by both governments. The initiative will issue 400,000 carbon credits by 2030, which Switzerland will apply toward its Paris Agreement targets.

Beyond Switzerland, Chile is also in talks with Singapore to explore similar Article 6 partnerships. Once enacted, the new decree will strengthen Chile’s ability to formalise ITMO transactions and cement its role as a regional leader in carbon markets.