ESG Insider: EU policymakers agree on carbon removals certification framework
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The European Parliament and the Council of the EU, composed of government ministers of the 27 EU member states, on Feb. 20 reached a provisional political agreement on establishing an EU-level certification framework for carbon removals.
Carbon removal projects remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it for a length of time using a variety of approaches: technology such as carbon capture and storage; nature-based solutions such as restoring forests and soils; or using long-lasting materials. The proposed framework can be used to certify removals that employ any of these approaches, the EU said, and certification will depend on four aspects of a removal project: quantification, additionality, long-term storage and sustainability.
The regulation differentiates among several carbon removal activities, including permanent carbon removal, or storing carbon for several centuries; temporary carbon storage in long-lasting products such as wood-based construction for at least 35 years; temporary carbon storage from carbon farming such as restoring forests and soil, wetland management or seagrass meadows; and emission reductions from soil management.
The European Commission will develop tailored certification methodologies for different types of carbon removal. It will also establish an electronic EU-wide registry four years after the entry into force of the regulation, the Council said.
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