Countries at the COP29 climate summit have given the go-ahead to carbon credit quality standards which are critical to launching a UN-backed global carbon market, that would fund projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The green light was an early deal on day one of the two-week UN conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. Governments are also meant to hammer out a climate finance agreement, although expectations have been muted by Donald Trump's US election win.
Some negotiators were also critical of the way the deal was done.
The standards were agreed by a small group of technical experts, with some countries saying they had not been given a fair say in the final rules.
Kevin Conrad, the executive director for the Coalition for Rainforest Nations and former climate envoy for Papua New Guinea, said the supervisory board had overstepped its mandate.
"We endorse what they have done, not the way they have done it," he said.
Trump has said he would again pull the US out of the global Paris climate agreement, which lays the groundwork for the planned UN-backed carbon market.
However, Juan Carlos Arredondo Brun, a former climate negotiator for Mexico who now works for carbon market data and sourcing company Abatable, said the endorsement "will bring us closer to operationalising the carbon market before any single party may decide to move away from the Paris Agreement".
US climate envoy urges governments to keep faith in combating global warming
On Monday, local time, US climate envoy John Podesta urged governments to keep faith in the country's promise to combat global warming, saying Trump can slow, not stop, the transition from fossil fuels when he returns to office in January.
The annual UN climate summit began on Monday, in Baku, Azerbaijan, with many country delegations concerned Trump's victory on November 5 would hinder progress to limit planetary warming.
"For those of us dedicated to climate action, last week's outcome in the United States is obviously bitterly disappointing.
"But what I want to tell you today is that while the United States federal government, under Donald Trump, may put climate action on the back burner, the work to contain climate change is going to continue in the United States," Mr Podesta said at the summit.
He said the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), President Joe Biden's landmark climate legislation providing billions of dollars in subsidies for clean energy, would continue to drive investments in solar, wind and other technologies, and that US state governments would also push emissions cuts through regulation.
"I don't think that any of that is reversible. Can it be slowed down? Maybe. But the direction is clear," he said.
Although Trump has promised to rescind the IRA, to do so would require an act of Congress — and that could be elusive due to support from some Republican politicians whose districts benefit from IRA-linked investments.
Global carbon market could start up in 2025
Monday's deal could allow a UN-backed global carbon market, which has been years in the making, to start up as soon as next year, one negotiator said.
Carbon credits theoretically allow countries or companies to pay for projects anywhere on the planet that reduce CO2 emissions or remove it from the atmosphere and use credits generated by those projects to offset their own emissions.
Examples of projects could include cultivation of CO2-absorbing mangroves, or distribution of clean stoves to replace polluting methods of cooking in poor rural communities.
The market could be one route for US companies to keep participating in global efforts to address climate change, even if Trump were to quit the Paris accord.
If that happened, US firms could still buy credits from the UN-backed market to meet their voluntary climate targets.
While the standards approved in Baku were aimed at allaying concerns that many projects do not deliver the climate benefits they claim, campaigners said they fell short in areas including protecting the human rights of communities affected by projects.
"A lot of funders are worried that the markets aren't stable enough, credible enough to be able to invest more in," Rebecca Iwerks, a co-director at non-profit group Namati told Reuters.
"It could actually hinder the development of the market if you don't have a strong standard," she said of Monday's deal.
Countries at COP29 will also try to finish other rules aimed at creating a robust market.
The International Emissions Trading Association, a business group that backs global carbon markets, has said total trading in the UN-backed market could by 2030 generate $US250 billion ($380 billion) a year and cut 5 billion metric tonnes of carbon output annually.
Reuters
