COP29: UN-backed carbon market plan gets global support
Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary.
Global talks at the ongoing COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan appear to have yielded early wins for negotiators with delegates endorsing the rollout of a UN-backed carbon market.
The UN-administered carbon market will be operationalised under "Article 6.4" rules of engagement and the scheme is largely based on the landmark Paris Agreement which sets forth the mechanisms under which countries will trade their carbon credits under the watch of the UN.
"We have worked intensively over the last days and hours to ensure that we can adopt the agenda on the first day," stated Yalchin Rafiyev, COP29 Lead Negotiator.
"Last night, Parties agreed strong standards for a centralized carbon market under the UN... When operational, these carbon markets will help countries implement their climate plans faster and cheaper, driving down emissions," added Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary.
A carbon market is an initiative that enables both investors and corporations to trade both carbon credits and carbon offsets helping to lower the negative impacts of environmental crisis while opening fresh growth opportunities.
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Emissions trading
Supporters of the UN-backed system argue that the new market will establish the gold standard for emissions trading across the world, helping to unlock billions in finance for emissions mitigation projects in the developing world.
At the same time, potential buyers, who are often players from rich economies will have an opportunity to realise their climate goals by buying credits from green projects.
"We are a long way from halving emissions this decade, but wins on carbon markets here at COP29 will help us get back in that race. We must ensure that developing countries benefit from new flows of finance," added UN's Stiell.
According to Bloomberg, a number of interested parties at the COP29 talks were, however, hesitant in welcoming the said carbon market rules, noting that there remain “significant issues” to streamline the process.
Carbon Market Watch noted that an outstanding matter was how the said green projects would manage the "so-called reversal risks", where stored carbon leaks back into the atmosphere, such as through fire.
