Myanmar’s “Efficient Cookstove” Carbon Credits Are Already Facing Fraud Allegations

When the world’s first carbon credits were approved under the Paris Agreement’s new trading mechanism earlier this year, it felt like a milestone worth celebrating. But a closer look reveals a story far more complicated, and advocates are sounding the alarm about both human rights and environmental integrity.

The project at the center of the controversy distributes efficient cookstoves to households across Myanmar, a worthwhile goal on its face. Carbon markets are widely seen as a powerful tool for helping low-income communities in developing countries access cleaner cooking technology while reducing carbon emissions. But according to Carbon Market Watch and the Global Forest Coalition, this particular project may be doing far less for the climate than its approximately 650,000 approved credits suggest.

Myanmar has been living under a brutal military dictatorship since a coup in February 2021. The UN has documented that the regime is responsible for widespread human rights abuses against its own people, including targeted attacks on civilians, ethnic persecution, and sexual violence. The cookstove programme continued operating through this period, and for much of 2021 and 2022, Myanmar’s partner ministry was led by a colonel sanctioned by the European Union for supporting the junta.

Making matters worse, significant portions of the project operate in Sagaing Region, an area accounting for more than a third of Myanmar’s 3.8 million internally displaced people. Because of active armed conflict there, auditors could not conduct in-person site visits and instead relied on remote interviews via video call. Civil society experts argue this makes the emissions data unverifiable and potentially fraudulent.

Beyond the human rights dimensions, researchers are questioning whether the credits reflect real climate benefits at all. Carbon Market Watch estimates the project may be issuing seven times more credits than its actual impact warrants, partly because it fails to adequately account for households using multiple stoves simultaneously, including dirtier ones that the project does not track.

The planet desperately needs sustainable solutions that are both effective and trustworthy. Carbon markets can be a genuine force for good, but only when integrity is non-negotiable. This case is a powerful reminder that accountability must come first.

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