As more and more evidence surfaces of serious human rights infringements on the voluntary carbon market, it is imperative that standards bodies  prioritise safeguarding Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

Offering appropriate avenues for redress through grievance mechanisms is an essential component to addressing harms. After an initial review was published last year, a new Perspectives Climate Group report funded by Carbon Market Watch finds that despite improvements, serious shortcomings persist in the grievance mechanisms of the standards. These shortcomings limit the access to recourse for those adversely affected by carbon market projects.

Our accompanied briefing provides the standards with detailed recommendations that must urgently be incorporated. As the UN’s Article 6.4 carbon crediting mechanism now has a grievance procedure in place, recommendations are also provided for the improvement of this procedure.