World's First Paris Agreement Carbon Credits Face Scrutiny Over Myanmar Junta Links

The world's first carbon credits issued under the Paris Agreement's Article 6.4 mechanism — from a Myanmar cookstove project — face calls for suspension after civil society groups alleged the project is linked to institutions under military junta control and may have overstated its climate benefits by a factor of seven. The controversy has emerged as governments meet in Bonn to discuss the future of Article 6 carbon markets.

The cookstove project, implemented in Myanmar through a partnership between South Korea's Climate Change Center and Myanmar's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, issued credits under Article 6.4 in February 2026. A report released June 11 by the Myanmar Policy Institute, Global Forest Coalition, and Plan 1.5 found that MONREC has been under military control since the February 2021 coup, and during much of the implementation period was headed by Colonel Khin Maung Yi, sanctioned by the EU in June 2021 for supporting the junta.

The groups raised serious questions about the credit volume itself. An earlier analysis by Plan 1.5, Carbon Market Watch, and University of California Berkeley researchers found the project may have been over-credited by more than 14 times under the previous Clean Development Mechanism. Even under revised Article 6.4 methodologies, Carbon Market Watch assessed the project is still likely over-credited by a factor of seven. The UN Supervisory Body reduced credit issuance by 40 per cent compared with the CDM methodology, but civil society groups say the remaining volume is still significantly overestimated.

The controversy exposes credibility risks for the nascent UN-supervised Paris Agreement carbon market, which was designed with stronger safeguards than earlier offset systems to address exactly these integrity concerns. South Korean corporations have publicly identified the project as part of their climate strategies, and credits have traded through South Korea's Emissions Trading System. The civil society coalition has called for immediate suspension of all credit issuance, transfer, and use pending an independent conflict-sensitive audit. The UN Supervisory Body has not yet publicly responded.

Key figure — Over-credited by a factor of seven (revised Article 6.4 methodology)