Prepared for Subsidiary Body for Implementation, 45th Session, 7-18 November 2016
Carbon Market Watch welcomes the opportunity to provide input to the discussions on the procedures, mechanisms and institutional arrangements for appeals against decisions of the Executive Board of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) – SBI agenda item 7b.
An appeals procedure in the CDM project approval process presents a crucial opportunity for the Executive Board to protect human rights and promote accountability and legitimacy in the CDM as a valid tool for reaching its goals– namely, mitigating global climate change while promoting sustainable development. This would also reflect on the preamble reference on human rights in the Paris Agreement that calls on Parties to respect, promote and consider human rights obligations when taking actions to address climate change. An appeals procedure will help to ensure policy coherence and quality control in the Board’s decision-making process and build confidence in the CDM. As it was underlined in the preamble of the Paris Agreement,
To be an effective tool, also with regards to improving the CDM’s potential future role as a results-based finance instrument, the appeals procedure must have the capacity to consider and address stakeholder concerns regarding substantive impacts, such as harm to economic, social or environmental interests, and procedural ones. In this regard, the appeals procedures must be able to consider appeals against positive as well as negative decisions of the Board.
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