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Creating a voluntary framework to create a certification system to quantify, monitor, and verify carbon removals and to combat greenwashing, the European Council announced that it has granted final approval for the establishment of the first EU-level certification framework for permanent carbon removals, carbon farming, and carbon storage in products.
The EU Council’s approval of the new regulations is the final significant legislative action approving the creation of the new carbon removal certification system.
Natural carbon sinks and industry systems like Direct Air Capture projects are examples of carbon removal options. A mechanism to confirm and measure the impact and quality of the projects is necessary because funding for carbon removal projects can come from a number of sources, including government incentives or carbon credits.
The European Commission unveiled the first version of the certification system in 2022 as part of the European Green Deal, the EU’s plan to become climate neutral by 2050. Although the strategy’s main focus is on reducing absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, carbon removals will need to be used to offset emissions that cannot be completely removed.
Businesses who adhere to the framework will be certified, which partners, clients, and investors can use to assess a company’s compliance with carbon reduction initiatives. Organizations must put in place systems to enable permanent carbon removal that will capture and store atmospheric or biogenic carbon for several centuries (e.g., direct air capture with storage, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage); systems to capture and store carbon in durable products (e.g., wood-based construction products) with storage lasting at least 35 years; and systems for farms that improve carbon sequestration and storage in forests and soils, or that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from soils, over a minimum of five years (e.g. reforestation, carbon sequestration, restoring peatlands or wetlands, improved fertilizer use).
For organizations to be certified, these carbon removal activities must meet four requirements: they must reduce soil emissions or produce a quantifiable net carbon removal benefit; they must be additional, meaning they go beyond individual operator statutory requirements and require the certification’s incentive effect to become financially viable; they must aim to ensure long-term storage of carbon while minimizing the risk of carbon release; they must not significantly harm the environment and must be able to produce co-benefits to one or more sustainability goals.
Furthermore, in order for activities to be certified by the Council, they must be independently verified by third-party certification authorities. Such third-party certification is also covered by the legislation, and certifiers are held to strict and open standards for monitoring, verification, and reporting that will uphold environmental integrity and foster systemic confidence. In order to handle any release of collected carbon back into the atmosphere, operators will also have liability procedures in place.
The Commission will create an electronic EU-wide registry four years after the regulation takes effect to guarantee transparency and complete traceability of organizations. The registry will be issued to reflect the carbon net benefit produced by certified carbon removal and soil emission reduction activities. Twenty days after it is published in the EU’s Official Journal, it will become operative and apply to all EU member states.
Twenty days after it is published, the regulation will go into effect after being published in the EU’s Official Journal. According to the Council, it will then be immediately applicable in every EU member state.