diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d988257b244..0140cbb1801 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@ release.
 
 ### Context
 
+- Clarify that environment variable carrier implementations MUST be maintained
+  and distributed as part of Core OpenTelemetry repositories.
+  ([#5042](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/pull/5042))
+
 ### Traces
 
 ### Metrics
diff --git a/specification/context/env-carriers.md b/specification/context/env-carriers.md
index b418fa43b6b..476daa61d2b 100644
--- a/specification/context/env-carriers.md
+++ b/specification/context/env-carriers.md
@@ -56,6 +56,9 @@ When using environment variables as carriers:
   - validating and parsing values
   - applying any truncation or other format-specific behaviors
 
+Environment variable carrier implementation MUST be maintained and distributed
+as part of the Core OpenTelemetry repositories.
+
 ### Key Name Normalization
 
 Environment variable names used for context propagation: