First Article 6.4 carbon credits from cookstove project in war-torn Myanmar
The Ministry implementing the project is controlled by the military junta and is under EU sanctions.
In February 2026, the UN’s Article 6.4 Supervisory Body approved the first carbon credits under the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism. The project generating the credits is a so-called “clean-cooking” project in Myanmar. The project distributes efficient cookstoves that are intended to reduce smoke inside homes and use less wood, therefore reducing pressure on forests.
In a statement, Simon Stiell, the UN climate change executive secretary said,
“The first credits to be issued through the UN carbon market under the Paris Agreement come from a clean‑cooking project, and they show how this mechanism can support solutions that make a big difference in people’s daily lives, as well as channeling finance to where it delivers real-life benefits on the ground. The opportunities presented by this UN carbon market across all regions are vast, particularly now that strong environmental safeguards, robust standards, and a clear system for redress are in place to ensure integrity, inclusiveness and efficiency.”
But a new report about the project notes that the project is “being implemented in regions ravaged by conflict, displacement, and state-sponsored violence”. The approval of the project’s carbon credits under the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism “signals a profound disconnect between the lofty rhetoric of ‘high integrity’ carbon markets and the complex, often devastating realities on the ground”.
The report is published by the Global Forest Coalition, Myanmar Policy Institute, Plan 1.5, Biofuelwatch, and Gibson Climate Justice Lab, and is titled, “Carbon Credits Under Fire: Myanmar, Crimes Against Humanity, and the Crisis of Credibility Facing the UN’s “High-Integrity” Carbon Markets.”
Civil war and human rights violations
On 1 February 2021, a civil war started in Myanmar following an attempted military coup. The military violently cracked down on mass anti-coup demonstrations. Nearly 100,000 people have been killed in the civil war and 3.8 million people have been displaced.
The cookstove project started generating carbon credits one month before the military coup. The project is run by a South Korean NGO called Climate Change Center (CCC). Apart from that first month, all the carbon credits generated from the project were issued during the civil war.
The UN Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) has reported allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Myanmar carried out by the military regime. Since the coup IIMM has received many reports of massive rights violations including torture, sexual assault against people in custody, aerial bombings, attack, and killing of prisoners of war.
In November 2024, the International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan issued an arrest warrant against Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the Myanmar military regime, for crimes against humanity committed against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority.
Working with the military junta
The new report points out that the cookstove project is operating in some of Myanmar’s most conflict-affected regions. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC) is under the control of the military junta and is under EU sanctions for contributing “to the funding of the military regime”.
MONREC is responsible for the exploitation and trade of gemstones, pearls and other mineral resources, and timber from Myanmar. Much of this trade is illegal. MONREC is the implementation partner for the cookstove project. CCC continued working with MONREC after the military coup, as if nothing had happened.
The report quotes Yadanar Maung, spokesperson for Justice for Myanmar, saying that,
“Partnering with MONREC in a project tied to international carbon market mechanisms lends false legitimacy to the military junta and whitewashes its international crimes.”
Companies including Korea Electric Power Corporation, SK Group, and Industrial Bank of Korea, are buying carbon credits from a military regime that is committing horrific human rights abuses.
The report raises concerns about whether the carbon credits represent genuine emissions reductions. Analysis carried out by Plan 1.5, Carbon Market Watch, and the Carbon Trading Project at the University of California Berkeley concluded that the cookstove project may have been over-credited by seven times despite the supposedly more rigorous emissions calculations under Article 6.4.
In a press release, Global Forest Coalition’s Oli Munnion says,
“The UN has presented Article 6.4 as a new generation of high-integrity carbon markets. If the very first project approved under the mechanism raises this many questions about human rights, governance, monitoring and emissions accounting, then the credibility of the entire system is at stake.”
The report makes a series of recommendations to the Article 6.4 Supervisory Body about the cookstove project (PoA 10471):
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.