EU certification scheme offers hope for global carbon removals sector
By Donagh Cagney
A new EU-backed certification framework will likely be the foundation for future European and global carbon removal compliance markets. Donagh Cagney from global industry association Negative Emissions Platform explains all.
Policymakers are thinking more and more about the tools we will need to deliver net zero – and that means permanent carbon removals.
But unlike renewable power or electric vehicles, today it’s not a simple matter to quantify and exchange units of carbon taken from the atmosphere.
This is a problem – carbon removal activity needs markets to scale-up, and that requires a clear, trusted and common understanding of what is being traded.
After a frenzied five years focusing on its 2030 climate targets, Europe is now setting its sights on 2040 and beyond. And as part of this, the European Commission is implementing a law that will set out exactly how to define and certify a high-quality unit of permanently removed carbon.
The EU Carbon Removals & Carbon Farming Regulation (CRCF)
The CRCF Regulation sets up a framework to recognize certifiers of permanent carbon removals, as well as carbon stored in products and on farms.
The EU is currently setting out the certification methodologies that certifiers have to follow, if they want the EU’s stamp of approval.
These methodologies are to ensure that units of permanently removed carbon are of high quality. That means that certified units can be reliably quantified; that they genuinely will remain stored for thousands of years; that they do not have unwanted side effects on the environment or people; and that they would not have been delivered anyway via standard practice.
Today the EU is focusing on devising methods for direct air capture (DAC), biochar and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). Enhanced rock weathering and ocean alkalinity may be next in line.
Let one hundred flowers bloom
Everyone in the carbon removals industry will know that Europe’s certification initiative, while very welcome, is not exactly unique.
There are a plethora of alternative certification standards either in existence or being set up, mostly in the voluntary market. Research has identified 102 separate protocols to monitor, report and verify carbon removals, covering both nature-based and permanent removals.
And in parallel the United Nations is developing its own guidance, to allow for carbon removal trading under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
Europe recognizes this, with the CRCF Regulation designed to be a framework which can recognize existing and new certification protocols. It is also voluntary – removal credits do not need to be CRCF-certified.
And Europe is not ignoring the global picture. The Commission is obliged to review the CRCF framework down the line, to align with the UN’s future Article 6 rules.
The Brussels Effect
So if the CRCF is just one amongst one certification option amongst many, why does it matter?
Because certification schemes are ultimately all about trust.
Buyers need to be confident that the certificate they are buying genuinely represents a unit of removed carbon. And a carbon removal certificate with the stamp of approval of a rules-based public government like the EU is going to have a lot of credibility.
Then there is the ‘Brussels effect’, where the EU’s size and ability to regulate often means that its rules and standards get more widely adopted beyond Europe’s borders. We may see other jurisdictions and international companies in time adopting CRCF or CRCF-equivalent standards.
Most importantly of all, CRCF standards may well be the basis for future compliance markets – which will be critical to scale up carbon removals activities.
Europe has already signaled its intention to introduce carbon removals into its EU ETS carbon trading scheme. This means that every ton of CO2 removed from the atmosphere can command a price, and that companies can use carbon removals to comply with their decarbonisation requirements.
This will require a system to clearly define carbon removal credits – and CRCF is the most likely candidate.
What’s Next?
The work to align certification methodologies for DAC, biochar and BECCS should finish by the end of 2025.
The first certification of carbon removal units is expected next year.
But the full implications of CRCF will likely play out over the years ahead, as Europe and the world deliver the carbon removals industry that will help deliver net zero.
