BY JESSI AMASON (DUBAI)
At COP28, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) unveiled a groundbreaking initiative designed to empower developing countries’ participation in carbon markets. This initiative addresses a crucial need, as developing nations often struggle to access the resources required for low-carbon technologies while pursuing their own development agendas.
Carbon markets offer a promising solution, incentivising the reduction or removal of greenhouse gases (GHGs) through tradable carbon credits. Each credit represents one tonne of CO2 (or its equivalent) that has been avoided, reduced, or sequestered.
However, concerns about double counting and greenwashing have cast a shadow on the efficacy and ethical considerations of carbon markets. The UNDP’s High Integrity Carbon Markets Initiative seeks to address these concerns head on, paving the way for the seamless integration of carbon markets into developing countries’ sustainable development strategies.
“With this initiative, we aim to provide comprehensive, targeted support to developing countries so they can access high-integrity carbon markets. For UNDP, that means going beyond mere carbon accounting. It means implementing robust social and environmental safeguards to mitigate risks and ensure these projects deliver tangible sustainable development benefits,” said Leticia Guimarães, UNDP’s Global Lead for Carbon Markets, in a recent interview with Aletihad.
Guimarães acknowledged the current fragmented support landscape, and emphasised the challenges faced by developing countries in implementing high-integrity principles. She addressed concerns regarding double counting and greenwashing, highlighting UNDP’s adherence to the Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets (ICVCM) guidelines and internationally established best practices.
These practices ensure accurate data, conservative baseline setting, and baseline updates that reflect the evolving impact of emission reduction projects, she said. “In practical terms, this means using the most accurate data available, setting conservative baselines that reflect the true nature of these initiatives, and ensuring these baselines are updated over time as projects achieve their emission reduction goals,” Guimarães explained.
The launch of the High Integrity Carbon Markets Initiative marks the culmination of extensive global stakeholder dialogue spanning over two years.
“We see this launch also as marking the momentum in which UNDP puts forward its own vision on integrity and how to operationalise it to then start more active engagement with various partners to have discussions about how we can come together to support developing countries to generate high quality credits, and also make sure that as these initiatives are developed,” Guimarães stated.
She identified other key priorities, which include securing fair pricing for carbon credits, fostering meaningful community engagement, and enabling developing countries to retain technology and most investments within their borders, so that these countries can further their own climate action.
Guimarães reiterated UNDP’s commitment to providing technical assistance and support to governments in implementing high-integrity principles. She cited UNDP’s instrumental role in facilitating the Article 6 agreement between Ghana and Switzerland as a successful pilot initiative.
“In terms of the legal assistance, institutional assistance, infrastructure setting up, UNDP is already actually doing that with countries,” she affirmed.
UNDP’s High Integrity Carbon Markets Initiative presents a comprehensive and timely strategy to address the challenges surrounding carbon markets. By prioritising integrity and collaboration, the initiative has the potential to unlock significant sustainable development opportunities for developing countries worldwide.