First Carbon Credits Under the Paris Agreement Questioned: 130 Groups Seek Suspension of Myanmar Cookstove Credits
At least 130 civil society organisations have asked the UN body that runs the Paris Agreement's new carbon market to suspend credits from a cookstove project in Myanmar. This was the first project ever to get credits under the new Article 6.4 mechanism, called the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM).
The groups want the Supervisory Body of the PACM to stop any further issuance, transfer or use of these credits until an independent investigation is done. Their open letter (6 October 2026) was timed for the Body's 23rd meeting in Bonn, Germany (5 to 9 October 2026).
The project (PoA 10471) is run by South Korea's Climate Change Center and gives out efficient cookstoves in Myanmar that are said to cut household firewood use by more than half. It moved over from the older Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Its first credits were approved in February 2026 and are authorised for use by South Korea towards its climate target.
The groups raise four main worries: the project ran during Myanmar's military rule after the February 2021 coup; checks were done remotely through 22 online interviews, with no site visits, even though nearly one million stoves were handed out; it is unclear who got the money; and women's role and benefits were not properly measured.
Independent studies cited in the letter estimate that the project may have got far more credits than it deserved: about 14 times too many under the CDM (2025 analysis) and up to 7 times too many under Article 6.4 (June 2026 analysis).
Paris Agreement, Article 6 and Carbon Markets
Article 6 of the Paris Agreement is the part of the world's climate treaty that lets countries work together to cut greenhouse gas emissions, including by buying and selling emission cuts. If one country cuts more pollution than it promised, it can sell that extra cut to another country, which then counts it towards its own target. Article 6 sets the rules for this trade so that the same cut is not counted twice and the planet really benefits.
The Myanmar cookstove credits are the very first credits issued under Article 6.4, so they are a test of whether the new UN market can avoid the mistakes of the old CDM. Civil society groups say the weak, remote checks and the over-crediting estimates show the rules are not yet being applied strictly, and want the Supervisory Body to pause the credits before South Korea uses them.
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
The Clean Development Mechanism, or CDM, was a carbon market created under Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol (1997). It let rich countries that had legal emission targets pay for clean projects in developing countries, such as wind farms, biogas plants or efficient cookstoves. In return, they received carbon credits called Certified Emission Reductions (CERs), which they could use to meet their own targets. It was the world's first global carbon credit system and the direct parent of today's Article 6.4 mechanism.
The Myanmar cookstove project began as a CDM project and later moved to the new Article 6.4 mechanism. The civil society letter says it was already over-credited about 14 times under the CDM, and warns that moving such projects across without fresh scrutiny brings old CDM problems into the Paris Agreement's market.
Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), India
The Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS) is India's own domestic carbon market. Big polluting industries get targets to cut their greenhouse gas emissions per unit of output. Plants that beat their target earn carbon credit certificates, which they can sell to plants that miss their target. It is separate from the Paris Agreement's Article 6, which deals with trade between countries.
The Myanmar case shows why carbon credits need strong checks on baselines and verification. India is building its own CCTS at the same time, and the lessons from the first Article 6.4 credits (honest baselines, on-site checks, clear money trails) apply equally to India's domestic market and to any Indian credits it may later sell abroad.
- At least 130 civil society organisations signed the open letter dated 6 October 2026.
- Target: the Article 6.4 Supervisory Body's 23rd meeting, Bonn, Germany, 5 to 9 October 2026.
- Project: Myanmar cookstove Programme of Activities, PoA 10471, run by South Korea's Climate Change Center; Envirofit M5000 stoves.
- First PACM credit issuance approved 26 February 2026; credits authorised for use by South Korea.
- Monitoring period for first credits: January 2021 to May 2022 (about 17 months), mostly after Myanmar's February 2021 military coup.
- Verification: remote, 22 online interviews (only 2 with women); nearly 1 million stoves distributed; 80% of 231 household survey interviews were with male heads of household.
- Over-crediting estimates: about 14 times under the CDM (2025 analysis); up to 7 times under Article 6.4 (June 2026 analysis).
- Article 6.4 rules finalised at COP29, Baku, Azerbaijan, 2024.