Carbon Market Watch recommendations on establishing an independent grievance body under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement

Carbon Market Watch argues that an independent grievance body must be operational before any Article 6.4 activities begin to avoid reputational risks and human rights infringements. The author recommends that this body be independent of the 6.4 Supervisory Body, free of charge for stakeholders, and capable of imposing temporary measures like suspending credit issuance. The document also suggests extending this mechanism to cover Article 6.2 and compares existing voluntary carbon market standards, noting that some, like Verra, have inappropriate fee requirements.

• An independent grievance body must be fully operational before any Article 6.4 activities are initiated, registered, or before credits are traded to prevent a lack of transparency and accountability.
• The proposed grievance body should be independent of the 6.4 Supervisory Body, the CMA, or Parties, and should have the authority to issue public recommendations and impose temporary measures, such as halting the issuance of credits, if significant or repeated grievances occur.
• To ensure accessibility and protection for stakeholders, the grievance process must be free of charge, available in any official language and format, and offer an option for confidentiality to prevent retaliation.
• Project developers are required to inform local communities that a project is an Article 6.4 activity and provide clear information on how to access the grievance mechanism.
• A comparison of voluntary carbon market standards reveals inconsistent grievance approaches: Verra's process is described as inequitable due to fee requirements, the Gold Standard is noted for providing the most detail and a timeline, and the Climate Action Reserve appears to lack a grievance process entirely.

APA

Carbon Market Watch (2022). Carbon Market Watch recommendations on establishing an independent grievance body under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CMW-Art-6-recommendations-on-grievances-2.pdf

Chicago

Carbon Market Watch. Carbon Market Watch recommendations on establishing an independent grievance body under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. 2022. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CMW-Art-6-recommendations-on-grievances-2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Carbon Market Watch |title=Carbon Market Watch recommendations on establishing an independent grievance body under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement |date=May 2022 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CMW-Art-6-recommendations-on-grievances-2.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{carbonmarketwatch2022carbon, author = {{Carbon Market Watch}}, title = {{Carbon Market Watch recommendations on establishing an independent grievance body under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2022}, month = may, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CMW-Art-6-recommendations-on-grievances-2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }