Strengthening the complaint mechanisms of multilateral climate funds and carbon markets: A critical step towards a human rights-based green transition

Notwithstanding their indisputable benefits, climate change mitigation and adaptation activities can negatively impact the environment and human rights. Accordingly, multilateral funds and programmes financing these activities have increasingly adopted environmental and social safeguards. However, enforcing these safeguards has been difficult because of the lack of or shortcomings affecting complaint procedures provided by multilateral climate finance institutions to individuals and groups negatively impacted by the activities that the institutions support. This article assesses the effectiveness of the complaint procedures of the main multilateral climate funds and carbon market mechanisms; it highlights the limitations of alternative complaint options, including project- and implementing entity-level grievance mechanisms and judicial avenues; and it reflects on the need for effective complaint procedures at the international level to further a human rights-based green transition.