False friends: Why UN REDD+ and Article 6 carbon markets are incompatible

The document asserts that UN REDD+ was not designed as a market mechanism and lacks the necessary requirements for additionality, permanence, and robust quantification to qualify as high-quality carbon credits under Article 6.2. It highlights that while ITMOs have stronger reporting and anti-double-counting rules, neither system provides sufficient third-party verification or monitoring after activity conclusion. The author concludes that forest-related activities are ill-suited for offsetting due to inflated baselines and risks of non-permanence, urging a shift toward non-market-based financing.

• UN REDD+ is fundamentally incompatible with Article 6 carbon markets because it was not developed as a market mechanism, making the use of its projects to offset emissions problematic.
• There are critical quality gaps between REDD+ results and ITMOs, most notably regarding additionality; ITMOs require evidence of additionality, whereas REDD+ results have no such requirement.
• Forest-related activities are deemed unsuitable for carbon credits because they often fail to deliver real, permanent, or additional emissions reductions, frequently relying on inaccurate or inflated baselines.
• While ITMOs have more stringent reporting and mandatory rules to prevent double claiming through corresponding adjustments, neither ITMOs nor REDD+ results possess a strong third-party verification process or requirements for monitoring after an activity is concluded.

APA

Mulder, I. (2024). False friends: Why UN REDD+ and Article 6 carbon markets are incompatible. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2024_06_False-friends-Why-UN-REDD-and-Article-6-carbon-markets-are-incompatible-1.pdf

Chicago

Mulder, Isa. False friends: Why UN REDD+ and Article 6 carbon markets are incompatible. Carbon Market Watch, 2024. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2024_06_False-friends-Why-UN-REDD-and-Article-6-carbon-markets-are-incompatible-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mulder |first1=Isa |title=False friends: Why UN REDD+ and Article 6 carbon markets are incompatible |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=June 2024 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2024_06_False-friends-Why-UN-REDD-and-Article-6-carbon-markets-are-incompatible-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mulder2024false, author = {Mulder, Isa}, title = {{False friends: Why UN REDD+ and Article 6 carbon markets are incompatible}}, institution = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2024}, month = jun, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2024_06_False-friends-Why-UN-REDD-and-Article-6-carbon-markets-are-incompatible-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }