Climate needs carbon removals

Every credible pathway to climate neutrality requires carbon removals to address residual emissions from hard-to-abate sectors 

 

  • Carbon dioxide removal is an essential complement to emissions reductions. Permanent carbon removals are needed to counterbalance residual emissions from sectors where emissions cannot be fully eliminated, enabling the achievement of net-zero emissions. Beyond net zero, carbon removals will also play a critical role in addressing emissions overshoot and delivering net-negative emissions to help stabilise global temperatures over the long term, in line with the European Climate Law’s objective of achieving negative emissions after 2050.

  • Climate science shows that carbon removals must be scaled up rapidly over the coming decades to meet global climate goals. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that between 5 and 10 gigatonnes of carbon removals will be needed globally every year by 2050, compared with only around 2 gigatonnes removed annually today, the overwhelming majority of which are temporary. Countries have collectively pledged to reach only around 3.6 gigatonnes of removals by 2050, leaving a significant gap between current ambition and what climate scenarios require. In Europe, the European Commission’s impact assessment for the 2040 climate target foresees 75 million tonnes of industrial carbon removals per year by 2040 and 114 million tonnes by 2050, underlining the need for policies that accelerate investment and deployment.

  • Carbon removals cannot be scaled overnight. Building the technologies, infrastructure, and investment needed to deliver high-integrity permanent removals at scale will take time. Without early policy support, Europe risks entering the 2030s with insufficient domestic carbon removal capacity to meet growing demand from hard-to-abate sectors, increasing the cost and complexity of achieving climate neutrality. Creating early markets through targeted public support and clear long-term policy signals can help scale the carbon removals sector, drive down costs, and ensure that sufficient high-quality removals are available when compliance demand emerges.

 

Mainstreaming carbon removals in EU law

  • Emissions Trading System

    The EU should integrate permanent carbon dioxide removals into the ETS through a phased approach that builds long-term demand and revenue certainty while preserving the system’s environmental integrity. This would start with public funding and intermediary-led procurement, followed by the gradual inclusion of certified permanent removals without increasing the ETS cap. It should also be backed by separate CDR targets in EU climate law and strong safeguards so that only high-integrity, permanent removals are eligible.

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  • EU Climate Law

    The EU Climate Law should be strengthened to support both climate neutrality by 2050 and the growth of a competitive permanent carbon dioxide removal industry. This means setting a 90% net emissions reduction target for 2040, alongside separate targets for gross emissions reductions, permanent CDR and LULUCF, backed by a broader support package beyond ETS integration. It should also include strong safeguards for any international credits and support a portfolio of permanent CDR methods to ensure consistency across EU policies.

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  • Green Claims Directive

    The Green Claims Directive proposed by the European Commission is crucial for combating greenwashing and promoting investment in permanent carbon removal. This directive would require companies to substantiate and communicate their environmental claims, including guidelines on using carbon credits.

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  • Making a short-term EU purchasing programme work for CDR

    Making a short-term EU purchasing programme work for permanent CDR

    The EU should scale permanent carbon dioxide removal by 2030 through near-term support, including an EU Buyers’ Club, results-based payments for verified removals, and a pathway from a €1 billion pilot in 2026 to longer-term support through the Industrial Decarbonisation Bank. It should also make CDR visible in key EU funding instruments, support large-scale R&D through FP10, and secure long-term funding to strengthen competitiveness, jobs and climate goals.

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  • CDR in the Multiannual Financial Budget

    CDR in the Multiannual Financial Budget

    The EU budget will help decide which net-zero technologies scale in Europe, but carbon dioxide removal is still not clearly included in funding priorities. To protect competitiveness, jobs and climate goals, the EU should make CDR eligible in key funding instruments, support large-scale R&D through FP10, and secure long-term funding as negotiations move forward.

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