Carbon Market Watch inputs to the Article 6.4 Supervisory Body ahead of its 21st meeting: Sustainable Development Tool

Carbon Market Watch argues that the current Sustainable Development (SD) Tool under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement lacks robust safeguards for communities affected by land-intensive projects. The organization recommends a fundamental reconsideration of the Tool's structure, advocating for shared decision-making mechanisms, independent validation by Designated Operational Entities (DOEs), the primacy of international human rights standards over weak national laws, and the expansion of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) to all affected communities and land-related impacts.

• The current Sustainable Development (SD) Tool does not provide sufficient safeguards for communities impacted by land-intensive projects, which increases the risk of land rights infringements for local communities and Indigenous Peoples.
• The SD Tool's design creates a conflict of interest by leaving risk identification and assessment primarily to the activity participant, effectively making safeguards a matter of self-reporting.
• The role of Designated Operational Entities (DOEs) is undermined because they are hired by activity participants and are not required to conduct independent risk assessments or mandatory on-site inspections during validation.
• The SD Tool should be revised to ensure international human rights standards, such as UNDRIP, UNDROP, and UNGP, take precedence over national laws when those laws are exclusionary or weak.
• Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) protections should be expanded to include all affected communities and customary rights holders, not just formally recognized Indigenous Peoples, and should apply to all land-related impacts including economic displacement.
• There is a lack of due diligence requirements regarding land tenure in the SD Tool; project participants should be required to establish a clear understanding of land tenure, including customary and informal systems, before project approval.
• The possibility for a DOE to request a deviation from safeguards when unavoidable negative impacts are identified is considered unacceptable and should instead be grounds for halting the project.

APA

Carbon Market Watch (n.d.). Carbon Market Watch inputs to the Article 6.4 Supervisory Body ahead of its 21st meeting: Sustainable Development Tool. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/SBM021-CMW-input-on-SD-tool.pdf

Chicago

Carbon Market Watch. Carbon Market Watch inputs to the Article 6.4 Supervisory Body ahead of its 21st meeting: Sustainable Development Tool. n.d. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/SBM021-CMW-input-on-SD-tool.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Carbon Market Watch |title=Carbon Market Watch inputs to the Article 6.4 Supervisory Body ahead of its 21st meeting: Sustainable Development Tool |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/SBM021-CMW-input-on-SD-tool.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{carbonmarketwatchndcarbon, author = {{Carbon Market Watch}}, title = {{Carbon Market Watch inputs to the Article 6.4 Supervisory Body ahead of its 21st meeting: Sustainable Development Tool}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/SBM021-CMW-input-on-SD-tool.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }