Ghana issues 22,972 ITMOs from a cookstove project under its Swiss Article 6.2 agreement
By Article 6 Network
Ghana has issued 22,972 ITMOs to a clean cooking project under its bilateral Article 6.2 agreement with Switzerland, according to its public registry. The issuance comes a year after Ghana’s first-ever ITMO issuance and is nearly double the size of that first batch. It confirms that Africa’s leading Article 6 host can deliver repeat, annual issuances of ITMOs for NDC use.
This week, Ghana’s public registry recorded the issuance of 22,972 ITMOs to a clean cooking project under the Ghana–Switzerland cooperative approach. It is the country’s second recorded ITMO issuance, about a year after its first.
That first issuance, in July 2025, consisted of 11,733 ITMOs, minus Switzerland’s overall mitigation in global emissions (OMGE) contribution. They came from the “Transformative Cookstove Activity in Rural Ghana” and were issued to the KliK Foundation’s account in the Swiss registry. Ghana committed to adjusting its greenhouse gas inventory by the amount transferred to avoid double counting. The issuance made Ghana the first African country, and only the second in the world, to complete such a transaction.
The cookstove activity was authorised by both governments in early 2024 and aims to distribute 180,000 improved cookstoves. The stoves are locally produced and distributed by Envirofit Ghana, with financing from KliK. Ghana and Switzerland signed their bilateral agreement in November 2020, one of the first under Article 6. Ghana’s Carbon Market Office runs the Ghana Carbon Registry.
Signals to watch
- Repeat issuance proves the system works: A second, larger issuance shows that the full Article 6.2 cycle of monitoring, verification, joint confirmation, issuance and corresponding adjustment can run every year, not just once. For buyers and investors, a steady delivery record is the strongest de-risking signal a host country can give.
- Volumes remain modest: At about 23,000 units, the issuance is small compared with the 180,000-stove programme and with buyer demand. Investors should watch whether volumes scale toward design capacity, and whether conservative crediting under Article 6 rules leads to lower yields than legacy voluntary cookstove projects.
- Integrity scrutiny continues: Swiss NGO Alliance Sud has criticised the project for lacking transparency, overstating emission reductions and letting Switzerland delay domestic action. With the PACM’s new cookstove methodologies and reversal-risk tool now adopted, expect pressure on bilateral cookstove activities to meet similar standards.
- Ghana’s competitive position strengthens: As one of the few countries with a working registry, multiple bilateral partners (including Switzerland, Singapore and Sweden) and recorded transfers, Ghana is well placed to attract new buyers. Other African hosts will use its process as a benchmark.
- Pipeline depth: Ghana has said cookstove proposals make up the largest share of its Article 6 pipeline, with dozens of proposals aiming to distribute millions of stoves by 2030. Concentration in a single sector is a portfolio risk that buyers and the government will need to manage.
Sources:
- KliK Foundation – First ITMO issuance for mitigation activity in Ghana
- Ghana News Agency – Ghana issues first ITMOs under Paris Agreement
- S&P Global – Switzerland, Ghana approve transfer of Article 6 credits from cookstove project
- Gas Outlook – Ghana cookstove project becomes Africa’s first carbon offset deal
