joint implementation

international agreement mechanism

Also known as: JI

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Last updated

July 20, 2026

Quick Summary

Joint implementation (JI) is an international agreement mechanism that allows countries with greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments to earn emission-reduction units. These units can be sold to countries that need to meet their emission reduction targets. Essentially, one country can invest in an emission reduction project in another country and receive credit for that reduction.1

This mechanism, established under the Kyoto Protocol, aims to achieve emission reductions cost-effectively by allowing them to occur where it is less expensive. Projects under JI typically involve renewable energy, energy efficiency improvements, or the destruction of industrial greenhouse gases. A key principle is that the emission reductions must be "additional," meaning they would not have occurred without the offset project.1

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carbon offset
Carbon-offsetting process
…offsets through a mechanism called joint implementation (JI), where one party develops an emission-reduction or emission-removal project in another country where emissions are limited. Parties can also obtain offsets through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) for projects in developing countries, where emissions are not otherwise limited.
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…offsets through a mechanism called joint implementation (JI), where one party develops an emission-reduction or emission-removal project in another country where emissions are limited. Parties can also obtain offsets through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) for projects in developing countries, where emissions are not otherwise limited.
Read More

environmental policy
Global policy agreements
Joint implementation, the first mechanism, allowed countries to invest in lowering emissions in other countries that had ratified the Kyoto Protocol and, thus, had a reduction target to meet. For industrialized, developed countries that had already invested in emission reductions in their own economies, it…
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Joint implementation, the first mechanism, allowed countries to invest in lowering emissions in other countries that had ratified the Kyoto Protocol and, thus, had a reduction target to meet. For industrialized, developed countries that had already invested in emission reductions in their own economies, it…
Read More