rich countries will now be able to meet their climate objectives by purchasing carbon credits

Experts fear that these mechanisms allow states to declare themselves more virtuous than they really are, creating “greenwashing” on a large scale.

Rich countries will now be able to meet their climate objectives by paying countries in Africa or Asia instead of reducing their own greenhouse gas emissions, thanks to the adoption at COP29, Saturday November 23, of new rules already suspected of “greenwashing”. Until now, carbon credits were mainly used by companies wishing to cancel their emissions to claim to be carbon neutral, a market which has escaped all international rules and was marked by numerous scandals.

From now on, to achieve their climate objectives arising from the Paris agreement, countries – mainly rich polluters – will be able to buy carbon credits or sign transactions directly with other “good student” countries which would surpass their own objectives. This option was provided for in Article 6.2 of the 2015 Paris Agreement, the bedrock of global climate action, but Saturday's decision makes it effective.

Experts fear that these mechanisms allow states to declare themselves more virtuous than they really are, creating “greenwashing” on a large scale. But developing countries, mainly in Africa and Asia, rely heavily on these transactions to obtain international financing.