Oman has signed two memorandums of understanding intended to strengthen its ability to take part in international carbon markets, including work on how its national carbon registry might connect with other systems.
The agreements were signed during the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Türkiye, by Oman’s Minister of Energy and Minerals, Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi, and Yousef Alhorr, founding chairman of the two partner organisations. Oman’s ministry was represented by the Oman Net Zero Centre.
One memorandum is with the Global Carbon Council, a carbon-crediting organisation. The other is with the Climate Action Center of Excellence, an initiative established by the Gulf Organisation for Research and Development. Both set out areas for co-operation rather than announcing a completed connection between registries or the opening of a new carbon exchange.
Connecting records
Under the first agreement, the council and the Omani centre will explore whether a carbon-market infrastructure and registry solution developed by the council could complement Oman’s existing national carbon registry, known as Meezan. The possibility being considered is for the systems to communicate with international greenhouse-gas crediting programmes.
A carbon registry records information about projects and credits. In Oman’s national framework, the registry is intended to track steps such as the issue, transfer, use and cancellation of units. Being able to reconcile records across different systems matters when a credit moves between programmes or across borders.
The proposed technical work is not the same as a decision to adopt the council’s system. The partners will also explore its standards, governance arrangements and methods, and co-operate on training for public bodies, project developers and market participants. The areas listed include project development, registration, credit issuance, registry infrastructure and the development of methodologies.
Preparing for international transfers
The second memorandum focuses on the institutional work needed for Oman to participate under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Its scope includes operating the national registry, authorising emissions-reduction outcomes, preparing reports and dealing with the accounting adjustments associated with certain international transfers.
Article 6.2 provides a route for countries to co-operate on emissions reductions. Under such arrangements, an authorised reduction achieved in one country can be transferred for use towards another country’s climate target. The rules require participating countries to report information about their co-operation.
One accounting concern is that the same reduction should not be claimed by both the country where it occurred and the country using it towards a target. Corresponding adjustments are designed to address that risk by changing how the transferred outcome is reflected in the countries’ climate accounts. A registry helps track units, but reliable accounting also depends on the authorisation, reporting and verification processes around it.
The agreement with the Climate Action Center of Excellence also covers sharing knowledge on policy, regulation and how benefits might be distributed. The partners plan to explore possible routes for selling credits, including auctions, calls for proposals and exchange facilities. Those possibilities are not themselves an announcement that sales have taken place.
Oman’s existing framework
Oman introduced an updated net-zero strategy and carbon-market regulatory framework in May 2026. The country’s stated long-term goal is net-zero emissions by 2050. The new memorandums build on that earlier framework; they do not replace it or guarantee that the national target will be met.
Under the framework, the Oman Net Zero Centre has a role in assessing projects, managing the national registry and authorising relevant international uses of credits. Project developers are expected to submit information about an activity and its proposed method, while the process also includes monitoring and independent verification before applicable credits are issued.
The framework identifies safeguards including checks on additionality: whether an activity depends on the incentive created by carbon-credit revenue. It also addresses the risk that a claimed reduction could later be reversed, and requires records to distinguish different types and uses of units. These are requirements and design provisions, not evidence that every future project will deliver its projected benefit.
The immediate result of the COP31 signing is therefore a pair of co-operation agreements. Their practical impact will depend on what is adopted, how the systems and training are put into use, and whether projects ultimately produce reductions that can be measured and verified.
