Osalejate nimetamine

Our refce.: S86/793

N O T E V E R B A L E

The International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) presents its

compliments to the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in Italy and has the honour to recall that at

its 101st session in June 2022, the UNIDROIT Governing Council recommended to include a project to

analyse the legal nature of voluntary carbon credits (VCCs) in the Work Programme of the Institute

for the 2023-2025 triennium with high priority. This recommendation was endorsed by UNIDROIT’s

General Assembly at its 81st session (December 2022), which officially adopted the project. At its

102nd session in May 2023, the Governing Council authorised the Secretariat to establish a Working

Group to develop the project. At its 103rd session in May 2024, the Governing Council decided to

change the title and scope of the project to verified carbon credits.

The project on the Legal Nature of Verified Carbon Credits aims at providing guidance on

private law issues so as to enhance confidence in VCC transactions and support the development of

a well-functioning market, which could play a central role in fighting climate change, achieving the

goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCCC”), in particular the

Paris Agreement, and facilitating the fulfilment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Given that

a significant share of the projects that generate VCCs are located in developing economies, a reliable

carbon credit market also provides an opportunity to increase capital flow to emerging markets and

provide funding to climate mitigation projects.

Pursuant to UNIDROIT’s methodology, the work will be carried forward by a Working Group

composed of international experts from different legal systems, under the Chair of Professor Hideki

Kanda, Member of the UNIDROIT Governing Council. More information on the project can be found

here: https://www.unidroit.org/work-in-progress/verified-carbon-credits/.

In light of the significant interest this project had generated, at its 103rd session in May 2024

the Governing Council granted the Secretariat flexibility to establish a Consultative Committee to

ensure domestic and regional feedback throughout the process of development of the future

instrument. Such Consultative Committee will allow for a wider participation of experts worldwide,

increase transparency, and provide invaluable context-specific feedback to the Working Group. The

Consultative Committee will be chaired by Ms Sharon Ong, Member of the UNIDROIT Governing

Council. It is expected that the Committee will be comprised of experts in carbon credit trading,

environmental law, property law, contract law, secured transactions, financial law and digital

technology.

To this end, UNIDROIT has the pleasure to invite the Government of the Republic of Estonia to

consider nominating a maximum two participants to the Consultative Committee for the project on

the Legal Nature of VCCs (preferably one government official and/or one expert who is not a

government official). The Secretariat encourages Member States to contribute to achieving gender

balance in the Consultative Committee. Details on the timing and functioning of the Consultative

Committee will be provided directly to the members.

./.

2. UNIDROIT

UNIDROIT would be further grateful if the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in Italy could

kindly confirm the name and contact information of any proposed participant(s) to the Consultative

Committee by email to Ms Audrey Chaunac ([email protected]) no later than 15 September

2024.

The responsible Officers for this project are Professor Meiling Huang ([email protected])

and Ms Qianqian Liu ([email protected]). Please do not hesitate to contact them directly should you

have any questions regarding the project.

UNIDROIT would be grateful if the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in Italy would kindly

bring the contents of this Note Verbale as well as its enclosure to the attention of the competent

Authorities of its Government.

Rome, 5 August 2024

To the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in Italy

ROME

EN

UNIDROIT Working Group on the UNIDROIT 2024

Legal Nature of Verified Carbon Credits Study LXXXVI – CC – Misc.1

English only

August 2024

CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE

Terms of Reference

1. In light of the very broad interest generated by the Project on the Legal Nature of Verified

Carbon Credits, the Secretariat informed the Governing Council at its 103rd session in May 2024 that

a Consultative Committee (“Committee”) would be established. This Committee, which would be able

to follow the developments of the project through consultations on the draft documents, would

include a global geographic representation of experts from both technical and legal fields, thus

allowing for wider participation, increased transparency, and enhanced provision of expert input to

the Working Group. The Committee is also conceived to provide the Working Group with advice,

comments and relevant information from a national and/or regional perspective as the work on the

future instrument evolves. Moreover, it would ultimately provide a useful channel to raise awareness

on the project among relevant policy makers and legislators, as well as to disseminate the final

instrument to the wider global community.

I. COMPOSITION

2. The composition of the Committee should be balanced in terms of legal systems (common

and civil law), geographical origin and gender.

3. To this end, each Member State of UNIDROIT is invited, by Note Verbale, to nominate a

maximum of two (2) persons for the Consultative Committee. In principle, Member States are invited

to nominate preferably one (1) government official and one (1) expert who is not a government

official. Depending on the needs of the Working Group, the UNIDROIT Secretariat may also invite non-

Member States to nominate Committee members as well.

4. Expert Members of the Committee should have demonstrated experience in carbon credit

trading, environmental law, property law, contract law, secured transactions, and digital technology.

5. The Chair of the Consultative Committee will be a Member of the UNIDROIT Governing Council.

II. FUNCTIONING OF THE COMMITTEE

6. The Consultative Committee will be expected to start its activity once the Working Group has

made sufficient progress so as to allow for a preliminary review of its work. Every iteration of the

prospective international instrument will be submitted to the Committee for additional input.

2. UNIDROIT 2024

7. As a general rule, the Committee will provide its input to the Working Group in written form,

by way of comments and suggestions to documents presented for its consideration. Written input

may be provided in English or in French.

8. Committee Members will be provided with at least twenty-one (21) calendar days for the

provision of written input. The Chair may extend or reduce the time as needed in light of the

complexity of the matter or the urgency of the request.

9. When deemed necessary, the Committee may meet virtually to discuss particularly relevant

matters. Any Committee Member who wishes to convene a virtual Committee meeting should submit

a written request to the Chair (via e-mail), stating the reasons for the meeting. The Chair will have

discretion to convene a virtual meeting, upon request of a Committee Member or on his/her own

motion, unless five (5) or more Members of the Consultative Committee request the meeting, in

which case a meeting will be convened by the Chair.

10. Virtual Committee meetings will be conducted in English. The agenda for a virtual meeting

will be prepared in advance by the Chair of the Committee in consultation with the Secretariat, and

submitted to Committee Members at least ten (10) calendar days before the meeting. Up to five (5)

calendar days before the meeting, any Committee Member may propose that additional topics be

included in the agenda. The Chair may reject the inclusion of additional topics when not deemed

adequate, unless at least five (5) Committee Members request their inclusion. A quorum will be

deemed to be present if at least ten (10) voting Members of the Committee attend a meeting. If a

State has nominated more than one member of the Consultative Committee, only one vote will be

counted for that State.

11. A written summary will be drawn up after each virtual meeting and shared with the Working

Group if deemed appropriate by the Chair. In case there is a need for an express resolution, it shall

be adopted by consensus. In case consensus cannot be reached, a decision is deemed to be adopted

with the favourable vote of a majority of participating members with a right to vote.

12. The written input provided by the Consultative Committee will be collected, consolidated, and

summarised (where appropriate) by the Secretariat, and presented to the Working Group by the

Chair of the Committee.

13. The input provided to the Working Group by the Consultative Committee is not binding. The

Secretary-General of UNIDROIT may decide, on a proposal by the Chair of the Committee or on its

own motion, to present a summary of the Committee’s input to UNIDROIT Governing Council.

14. The Chair of the Consultative Committee may invite the Chair of the Working Group, and/or

the Chair(s) of any Subgroups, if established, to attend a virtual Committee meeting and present on

any specific matter deemed necessary. Similarly, the Chair of the Working Group, and the Chair(s)

of any Subgroups, if established, may invite one or more Members of the Consultative Committee to

present on specific topics of interest.

Our refce.: S86/793

N O T E V E R B A L E

The International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) presents its

compliments to the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in Italy and has the honour to recall that at

its 101st session in June 2022, the UNIDROIT Governing Council recommended to include a project to

analyse the legal nature of voluntary carbon credits (VCCs) in the Work Programme of the Institute

for the 2023-2025 triennium with high priority. This recommendation was endorsed by UNIDROIT’s

General Assembly at its 81st session (December 2022), which officially adopted the project. At its

102nd session in May 2023, the Governing Council authorised the Secretariat to establish a Working

Group to develop the project. At its 103rd session in May 2024, the Governing Council decided to

change the title and scope of the project to verified carbon credits.

The project on the Legal Nature of Verified Carbon Credits aims at providing guidance on

private law issues so as to enhance confidence in VCC transactions and support the development of

a well-functioning market, which could play a central role in fighting climate change, achieving the

goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCCC”), in particular the

Paris Agreement, and facilitating the fulfilment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Given that

a significant share of the projects that generate VCCs are located in developing economies, a reliable

carbon credit market also provides an opportunity to increase capital flow to emerging markets and

provide funding to climate mitigation projects.

Pursuant to UNIDROIT’s methodology, the work will be carried forward by a Working Group

composed of international experts from different legal systems, under the Chair of Professor Hideki

Kanda, Member of the UNIDROIT Governing Council. More information on the project can be found

here: https://www.unidroit.org/work-in-progress/verified-carbon-credits/.

In light of the significant interest this project had generated, at its 103rd session in May 2024

the Governing Council granted the Secretariat flexibility to establish a Consultative Committee to

ensure domestic and regional feedback throughout the process of development of the future

instrument. Such Consultative Committee will allow for a wider participation of experts worldwide,

increase transparency, and provide invaluable context-specific feedback to the Working Group. The

Consultative Committee will be chaired by Ms Sharon Ong, Member of the UNIDROIT Governing

Council. It is expected that the Committee will be comprised of experts in carbon credit trading,

environmental law, property law, contract law, secured transactions, financial law and digital

technology.

To this end, UNIDROIT has the pleasure to invite the Government of the Republic of Estonia to

consider nominating a maximum two participants to the Consultative Committee for the project on

the Legal Nature of VCCs (preferably one government official and/or one expert who is not a

government official). The Secretariat encourages Member States to contribute to achieving gender

balance in the Consultative Committee. Details on the timing and functioning of the Consultative

Committee will be provided directly to the members.

./.

2. UNIDROIT

UNIDROIT would be further grateful if the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in Italy could

kindly confirm the name and contact information of any proposed participant(s) to the Consultative

Committee by email to Ms Audrey Chaunac ([email protected]) no later than 15 September

2024.

The responsible Officers for this project are Professor Meiling Huang ([email protected])

and Ms Qianqian Liu ([email protected]). Please do not hesitate to contact them directly should you

have any questions regarding the project.

UNIDROIT would be grateful if the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in Italy would kindly

bring the contents of this Note Verbale as well as its enclosure to the attention of the competent

Authorities of its Government.

Rome, 5 August 2024

To the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in Italy

ROME

EN

UNIDROIT Working Group on the UNIDROIT 2024

Legal Nature of Verified Carbon Credits Study LXXXVI – CC – Misc.1

English only

August 2024

CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE

Terms of Reference

1. In light of the very broad interest generated by the Project on the Legal Nature of Verified

Carbon Credits, the Secretariat informed the Governing Council at its 103rd session in May 2024 that

a Consultative Committee (“Committee”) would be established. This Committee, which would be able

to follow the developments of the project through consultations on the draft documents, would

include a global geographic representation of experts from both technical and legal fields, thus

allowing for wider participation, increased transparency, and enhanced provision of expert input to

the Working Group. The Committee is also conceived to provide the Working Group with advice,

comments and relevant information from a national and/or regional perspective as the work on the

future instrument evolves. Moreover, it would ultimately provide a useful channel to raise awareness

on the project among relevant policy makers and legislators, as well as to disseminate the final

instrument to the wider global community.

I. COMPOSITION

2. The composition of the Committee should be balanced in terms of legal systems (common

and civil law), geographical origin and gender.

3. To this end, each Member State of UNIDROIT is invited, by Note Verbale, to nominate a

maximum of two (2) persons for the Consultative Committee. In principle, Member States are invited

to nominate preferably one (1) government official and one (1) expert who is not a government

official. Depending on the needs of the Working Group, the UNIDROIT Secretariat may also invite non-

Member States to nominate Committee members as well.

4. Expert Members of the Committee should have demonstrated experience in carbon credit

trading, environmental law, property law, contract law, secured transactions, and digital technology.

5. The Chair of the Consultative Committee will be a Member of the UNIDROIT Governing Council.

II. FUNCTIONING OF THE COMMITTEE

6. The Consultative Committee will be expected to start its activity once the Working Group has

made sufficient progress so as to allow for a preliminary review of its work. Every iteration of the

prospective international instrument will be submitted to the Committee for additional input.

2. UNIDROIT 2024

7. As a general rule, the Committee will provide its input to the Working Group in written form,

by way of comments and suggestions to documents presented for its consideration. Written input

may be provided in English or in French.

8. Committee Members will be provided with at least twenty-one (21) calendar days for the

provision of written input. The Chair may extend or reduce the time as needed in light of the

complexity of the matter or the urgency of the request.

9. When deemed necessary, the Committee may meet virtually to discuss particularly relevant

matters. Any Committee Member who wishes to convene a virtual Committee meeting should submit

a written request to the Chair (via e-mail), stating the reasons for the meeting. The Chair will have

discretion to convene a virtual meeting, upon request of a Committee Member or on his/her own

motion, unless five (5) or more Members of the Consultative Committee request the meeting, in

which case a meeting will be convened by the Chair.

10. Virtual Committee meetings will be conducted in English. The agenda for a virtual meeting

will be prepared in advance by the Chair of the Committee in consultation with the Secretariat, and

submitted to Committee Members at least ten (10) calendar days before the meeting. Up to five (5)

calendar days before the meeting, any Committee Member may propose that additional topics be

included in the agenda. The Chair may reject the inclusion of additional topics when not deemed

adequate, unless at least five (5) Committee Members request their inclusion. A quorum will be

deemed to be present if at least ten (10) voting Members of the Committee attend a meeting. If a

State has nominated more than one member of the Consultative Committee, only one vote will be

counted for that State.

11. A written summary will be drawn up after each virtual meeting and shared with the Working

Group if deemed appropriate by the Chair. In case there is a need for an express resolution, it shall

be adopted by consensus. In case consensus cannot be reached, a decision is deemed to be adopted

with the favourable vote of a majority of participating members with a right to vote.

12. The written input provided by the Consultative Committee will be collected, consolidated, and

summarised (where appropriate) by the Secretariat, and presented to the Working Group by the

Chair of the Committee.

13. The input provided to the Working Group by the Consultative Committee is not binding. The

Secretary-General of UNIDROIT may decide, on a proposal by the Chair of the Committee or on its

own motion, to present a summary of the Committee’s input to UNIDROIT Governing Council.

14. The Chair of the Consultative Committee may invite the Chair of the Working Group, and/or

the Chair(s) of any Subgroups, if established, to attend a virtual Committee meeting and present on

any specific matter deemed necessary. Similarly, the Chair of the Working Group, and the Chair(s)

of any Subgroups, if established, may invite one or more Members of the Consultative Committee to

present on specific topics of interest.