BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 11, 2024—At the opening plenary of the 29th Climate Conference (COP29), States took the unprecedented decision to approve dangerous rules on carbon markets early and without due process.
At its meeting in October, a small technical committee mandated to supervise carbon markets (the Article 6.4 Supervisory Body) took the unprecedented move of finalizing and putting into effect rules related to carbon removal—mostly speculative approaches intended to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere—as part of carbon market mechanisms. This move bypasses States’ ability to revise and strengthen the standards.
At previous climate negotiations, both at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt in 2022 and at COP28 in Dubai in 2023, draft rules related to carbon removals were properly presented as recommendations by the Supervisory Body and subsequently rejected by governments. They would weaken climate action and include language that may open the door to dangerous distractions such as carbon capture and geoengineering.
Erika Lennon, CIEL’s Senior Attorney, released the following statement:
“Today, States allowed this rogue move from the Supervisory Body to prevail in the quest to start COP29 with a “win.” But this is hardly a win for people or the planet. Approving these carbon market rules without discussion or debate, sets a dangerous precedent for the entire negotiation process.
This is very concerning from a procedural standpoint: it bypasses States’ ability to even discuss, much less revise the standards before they go into effect. States’ oversight is all the more critical as the Supervisory Body’s efforts to get this done has resulted in risky rules that will lead to human rights violations and environmental harm.
While States won’t be able to undo this move, they can still partially correct the wrong by giving strong guidance to the Supervisory Body that ensures further rules are adopted in line with science, human rights, and international law. “
Media contacts
Rossella Recupero, Communications Campaign Specialist: + 41 76 216 5976 (Signal), +39 340 47 39 827 (WhatsApp), press@ciel.org