What are the Appeal and Grievance processes?
The Article 6.4 mechanism under the Paris Agreement (PACM) permits stakeholders, activity participants, and participating Parties to challenge unfavorable decisions of the Supervisory Body or raise concerns about Article 6.4 activities. Two complementary processes exist:
- Appeal process: Allows designated parties to formally challenge Supervisory Body decisions on registration, issuance, renewal, and post-registration changes.
- Grievance process: Enables local communities and affected individuals to report adverse effects from Article 6.4 activity implementation and request remedies.
Both processes operate independently, with transparent expert panel reviews and appeal fees for vulnerable groups (including local communities and indigenous peoples) waivable upon request, subject to Supervisory Body approval.
By clicking on the tabs above, you can access a user-friendly, step-by-step guide for each process.
How does the Appeal and Grievance process work?
The rules, modalities and procedures for the mechanism established by the Article 6.4 as contained in the annex to decision 3/CMA.3, in paragraph 62 states that "Stakeholders, activity participants and participating Parties may appeal decisions of the Supervisory Body or request that a grievance be addressed by an independent grievance process".
The Procedure: Appeal & grievance processes under the A6.4 mechanism describes the administrative steps to follow for stakeholders, activity participants and Parties to file an appeal against decisions of the Supervisory Body or to submit a grievance to be addressed for cases within the Article 6.4 mechanism activity cycle.
Who reviews an appeal or a grievance?
An appeal or grievance panel will be established by the secretariat to review specific cases by appointing three experts from the roster established for the appeal and grievance processes (see paras. 16 and 40 of the Procedure). Assignments will be made on a case-by-case basis, depending on the emergence of cases and resource availability.
