UN Climate Change News, 03 November 2023 - In a step towards bolstering global climate efforts, a United Nations Body has reached consensus on key regulatory documents to operationalize a new UN carbon crediting mechanism, designed to facilitate international collaboration in reducing emissions and combatting climate change.
The Supervisory Body is responsible for overseeing the vital carbon crediting mechanism outlined in Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement. In their final meeting before COP28, their focus was fixed on finalizing the regulations that will underpin the Article 6.4 mechanism.
Key regulatory documents greenlighted for implementation
One of the key achievements of the meeting was the agreement reached by the Supervisory Body on essential regulatory documents, after they received substantial input from stakeholders in the previous month. The documents adopted include:
- An activity cycle procedure for projects
- An activity standard for projects
- A validation and verification standard for projects
- An accreditation standard and procedure
Safeguards for social and environmental rights developed
Another important area of discussion focused on creating robust regulations to ensure further safeguards for stakeholders are in place under the Article 6.4 mechanism. These regulations aim to protect rights, boost climate action, and provide a procedure for addressing potential concerns. The initiatives discussed include:
- An Appeals and Grievances Procedure, the first procedure of its kind under a UN carbon crediting mechanism. As part of their discussion on this topic, the Supervisory Body considered the importance of expanding the coverage of stakeholders eligible to file appeals or grievances.
- A Sustainable Development Tool, designed to assess and report on the application of robust social and environmental safeguards for projects under the Article 6.4 mechanism.
Both the Appeals and Grievances Procedure and the Sustainable Development Tool will undergo extensive public consultation to gather input from a wide range of stakeholders.
