MEPs Pernando Barrena Arza (The Left) and Jaume Asens Llodrà (Verts/ALE) have asked the European Commission to clarify how it ensures that European companies involved in carbon markets do not fuel land grabbing, community divisions, or armed conflict in volatile regions. Their written question, submitted on 8 April 2026, focuses on Colombia's Lower Atrato region, where carbon credit projects are reportedly being formalised without proper community consent, transparency, or fair benefit-sharing, amid control by illegal armed groups.
The MEPs raise concerns that long-term contracts, lack of free prior and informed consent, and intermediation concentrating profits outside territories are weakening indigenous and Afro-descendant governance and reproducing extractive dynamics. They ask what specific monitoring, traceability, and control mechanisms the Commission applies to ensure European companies in voluntary or regulated carbon markets do not contribute to these harms.
Concrete asks and policy direction The question contains two concrete demands: first, details on existing oversight mechanisms for European carbon market actors; second, how human rights risks are integrated into mandatory due diligence under the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the Global Gateway investment plan. The MEPs seek to push the Commission toward stronger safeguards linking climate finance to human rights and conflict sensitivity.
Expected follow-up The Commission must reply within approximately six weeks. Its answer will signal whether it views carbon credit projects in conflict zones as a regulatory priority and how it interprets its due diligence obligations under CSDDD and Global Gateway. A robust response could lead to stricter requirements for European companies operating in high-risk carbon markets.
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