The Secretary General
To all Members of the HCCH,
I am pleased to convoke the
Experts’ Group on the private international law issues arising from carbon markets
(EG on Carbon Markets). The first meeting of the EG will take place from Tuesday 13 to Thursday 15 May 2025. The meeting will be held in-person at the premises of the Permanent Bureau (PB), with the possibility to participate
online via the Microsoft Teams platform. The meetings will be conducted in English and no simultaneous interpretation will be provided.
This meeting is convoked pursuant to Conclusion and Decision (C&D) No 18 of CGAP 2025, which reads as follows:
18. CGAP mandated the establishment of an EG to study the PIL issues arising from carbon markets, as described in Prel. Doc. No 6 of November 2024, with
an initial focus on the possible inclusion of an applicable law provision in the draft UNIDROIT Principles on Verified Carbon Credits. The EG will report to CGAP 2026.
At the first working meeting, the PB will present a summary of the exploratory work on the private international law aspects of carbon markets that took
place in the last year, including the Preliminary Report prepared by pro bono
experts sitting for the PB that was annexed to Prel. Doc. No. 6 of November 2024, and will provide an introduction to the members of the EG on Carbon Markets and its envisaged working methods and project planning for the coming year.
Members are invited to designate their respective delegate(s) by sending an e-mail to
[email protected] before Friday 11 April 2025, 5.00 p.m. (CEST). Please include the name(s), function(s) and e-mail address(es) of the delegate(s) in the e-mail. The following subject line should head the e-mail, “Carbon Markets
– Experts’ Group Designation – [name of HCCH Member]”.
When designating their delegate(s), Members are invited to take into consideration the following:
- As the subject matter of the EG includes considerations of public policy considerations
and overriding mandatory regulations in relation to the carbon markets, Members are kindly requested to identify delegates who can speak to the policy views of the State or Organisation that they are representing.
- Please note that a limited number of delegates can be accommodated at the premises
of the PB and, as such, the number of in-person participants is limited to
two per Member and to one per Observer. Registrations for in-person participation will close upon reaching the maximum number of delegates who can be accommodated, bearing in mind appropriate representation across geographic regions. Other delegates
should attend online.
- The maximum number of experts participating online per Member or Observer is
not limited at this stage. A limit may have to be considered if the number of experts designated to participate online differs substantially across Members, bearing in mind appropriate representation across geographic regions.
- With a view to ensuring continuity and efficient working practices, Members
are kindly requested to keep their delegations stable and not change the composition from one meeting to the next. Thus, designations are to be made once, for the entire span of the EG on Carbon Markets, comprising the abovementioned meeting and any future
meetings (see below).
- Only Members that are eligible to participate in Experts’ Groups according to
the regulatory framework of the HCCH may designate participants.
The draft agenda of the first meeting of the EG on Carbon Markets will be circulated in due course. Information pertaining to the Carbon Markets Project
is available on the
Carbon Markets Section of the HCCH website.
The second meeting of the EG on Carbon Markets is tentatively scheduled to take place from Wednesday 8 to Friday 10 October 2025 and the third meeting is
tentatively scheduled for Tuesday 2 to Thursday 4 December 2025. Designated members of the EG will receive confirmation and further information about future meetings in due course.
Finally, as regards invited Observers, pursuant to Rules II.B and II.J of the HCCH Rules of Procedure, the PB informs Members that it intends to invite,
as Observers to the meeting, the following international and non-governmental organisations: American Association of Private International Law (ASADIP); Asian Development Bank (ADB); Australasian Association of Private International Law (AAPrIL); European
Association of Private International Law (EAPIL); International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO); International Bar Association (IBA); International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT); International Swaps and Derivatives Association
(ISDA); United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL); and the United Nations (Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)).
With my colleagues, I look forward to the first meeting of this EG.
Yours sincerely,
Christophe Bernasconi
THE HAGUE, 11 March 2025
To the National and Contact Organs of the Members
To the Diplomatic Missions of the Member