COP29 achieves its first success, a few hours after its opening

ENVIRONMENT – A first step forward for the planet. Day 1 of COP29, which opened this Monday, November 11 in Baku, Azerbaijan, ended with a first agreement. Countries around the world have adopted new UN rules for the carbon credit market. This is a key step in helping countries meet their climate obligations.

“It’s extremely important”reacted in Baku to AFP Erika Lennon, expert on the subject at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), because this will “open the way” to a more established carbon market, intended to exchange quality carbon credits, with standards supported by the United Nations.

Carbon credits are generated by activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming, such as planting trees, protecting habitats or replacing polluting coal with solar or wind turbines.

One credit is equivalent to one ton of carbon dioxide prevented from entering or removed from the atmosphere. The criteria adopted in Baku on Monday govern the methodology for calculating the number of credits a given project can generate, and what happens if the stored carbon is lost, for example if the affected forest burns.

Framed standards for country compensation

The proposed standards mainly concern countries – especially wealthy polluters – that seek to offset their emissions by purchasing credits from nations that have reduced greenhouse gases beyond what they had promised. This will ultimately allow countries to use carbon credits purchased from others to reduce, on paper, their greenhouse gas emissions.

Until now this market had developed alone, outside of all international rules, and was mainly used by companies wishing to “compensate” their emissions and claim carbon neutrality. But several studies have shown the ineffectiveness of numerous projects, certified by lax private organizations, sometimes to the detriment of local populations.

If the decision taken this Monday will set in motion a mechanism awaited since the 2015 Paris agreement and its article 6, other official texts will still have to be forged to fully establish a reliable market. The NGO Oil Change International also criticized the fact that the decision taken in Baku was “without debate or public scrutiny”. A criticism shared by Erika Lennon, who points out a method that is not very transparent.

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