The Global Forest Coalition, Myanmar Policy Institute, Plan 1.5, Biofuelwatch and Gibson Climate Justice Lab have published a new report examining the first-ever carbon credits issued under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement – the UN’s flagship international carbon market mechanism.
The report, Carbon Credits Under Fire: Myanmar, Crimes Against Humanity, and the Crisis of Credibility Facing the UN’s “High-Integrity” Carbon Markets, investigates a cookstove carbon offsetting project in Myanmar coordinated by the South Korean NGO Climate Change Center (CCC). In February 2026, the project became the first in the world to receive credits under the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM), which was established to generate so-called “high-integrity” carbon credits for governments and corporations seeking to offset their emissions.
The report raises serious concerns about the project’s human rights impacts, governance arrangements, monitoring and verification practices, gender implications, and the credibility of the emissions reductions claimed by the project. It also asks a broader question: if this is the first project to be credited under Article 6.4, what can we expect from the thousands more in the pipeline?
Key Findings
The report finds that the project continued operating after Myanmar’s military coup of February 2021 through government institutions that came under the control of the military junta. The project’s principal implementation partner, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC), remained responsible for project activities throughout the period covered by the first issuance of credits. MONREC was led for most of that period by Colonel Khin Maung Yi, who was sanctioned by the European Union in 2021 for contributing to the funding and support of the military regime.
The report highlights that the project was implemented in parts of Myanmar’s central Dry Zone, including Sagaing Region, which has become the epicentre of resistance to military rule and one of the regions most heavily affected by violence since the coup. According to the report, project implementation areas experienced thousands of conflict-related incidents, including airstrikes, artillery attacks, attacks on schools and health facilities, mass displacement, food insecurity and widespread human rights abuses. Sagaing Region alone now accounts for more than a third of Myanmar’s internally displaced population.
As the report states:
“The project’s operation in Myanmar’s central Dry Zone—an area marked by systematic military violence, mass displacement, sexual and gender-based violence and the deliberate targeting of civilians—raises serious ethical and practical concerns.”
The report also raises concerns about the integrity of the carbon credits themselves. Previous independent analysis found that the project may have been overcredited by a factor of fourteen under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism. More recent analysis suggests that even after revisions under Article 6.4, the project may still be overcredited by a factor of seven.
Further concerns relate to the project’s monitoring and verification processes. Due to security concerns arising from the conflict, auditors were unable to conduct mandatory site visits in project implementation areas and instead relied primarily on remote interviews. As the report notes, this raises serious questions about the rigour of the verification process and whether project activities could be properly monitored under such conditions.
The report also highlights gender-related concerns, arguing that the project relies heavily on women’s unpaid labour while presenting women and girls as beneficiaries. At the same time, women and girls in project areas continue to face disproportionate impacts from conflict, food insecurity and conflict-related sexual violence.
A Test Case for Article 6.4
The report argues that the issuance of the first-ever Article 6.4 credits to this project exposes a profound disconnect between the rhetoric of “high-integrity” carbon markets and realities on the ground.
As the report concludes:
“Closer analysis of CCC’s Myanmar cookstoves project reveals a deeply troubling intersection of market-based climate finance, governance failure, gender impacts and ongoing human rights abuses.”
It continues:
“As global carbon markets expand under the Paris Agreement, the case of the Myanmar cookstoves project should serve as a cautionary tale.”
The report argues that carbon markets often allow continued pollution elsewhere while shifting burdens onto communities already facing conflict, displacement and environmental injustice. It concludes that genuine climate solutions must be community-led, rooted in local realities, and accountable for their social and environmental impacts.
Recommendations
In light of its findings, the report calls on the Supervisory Body of the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) to:
- Immediately suspend any further issuance, transfer, or use of credits associated with PoA 10471.
- Conduct an independent review of the project’s compliance with all applicable methodological, environmental, and social requirements.
- Revoke all credits issued under PoA 10471 and disqualify it from future issuances under PACM if the review determines that the project has failed to meet PACM requirements and safeguards, or that issued credits do not represent genuine and verifiable emissions reductions.
Downloads
📄 Full Report: https://globalforestcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/carbon-credits-under-fire_FINAL.pdf
📰 Press Release: https://globalforestcoalition.org/first-un-paris-agreement-high-integrity-carbon-credits-linked-to-myanmar-junta-new-report-finds/
