European Parliament adopts position on certifying carbon removals

10 months ago 28

The European Parliament adopted its position on Tuesday (21 November) on a scheme to certify carbon removals to help Europe meet its climate target and prevent greenwashing.

The certification framework was proposed by the European Commission to help scale up carbon removals, which will be needed for the world to reach net zero emissions, and to ensure activities that reduce carbon in the atmosphere actually benefit the environment.

“Climate change is already so serious that we cannot rely solely on emissions reductions but also need to remove carbon,” said Lídia Pereira, a Portuguese lawmaker from the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) who is the Parliament’s speaker on the proposal.

“This tool makes this possible, as we are advancing with rules to regulate a market that has been plagued by greenwashing, lack of clarity and distrust,” she added.

The European Parliament approved its position with 448 votes in favour, 65 against and 114 abstentions. The draft text emphasises that the scheme must be in line with international standards and transparent in order to avoid fraud and double counting.

Planting trees, which suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow, is today the most widespread form of carbon removals. But there are also industrial technologies being developed, such as Direct Air Capture (DAC) where giant fans suck CO2 straight from the atmosphere and store it permanently.

The EU certification scheme is designed to help attract private investment into these carbon removal projects.

With its vote, the Parliament’s position adds clarity between four different types of activities covered by the certification framework: carbon removal, carbon farming sequestration, carbon farming emissions reduction and carbon storage in products.

This reflects a call from environmental organisations and the scientific community, who feared that merging activities with different levels of removal and levels of permanency risked undermining the law.

Heading into final negotiations

The European Parliament’s vote follows EU countries agreeing their stance on the framework on 17 November, meaning the two sides are now ready to enter negotiations to finalise the law.

But as Parliament and EU countries head into final talks, there is still room for strengthening the law, according to environmental organisations.

“Negotiators must consider the use and role of removals at the centre of their discussions. Otherwise, there is a significant risk that carbon removals, temporary storage and/or emission reductions will be misused to delay emission reductions and greenwash dirty industries – both within and outside the EU,” said Wijnand Stoefs from Carbon Market Watch, a green NGO.

According to Rodica Avornic, associate policy director at the NGO Carbon Gap, certification must be purpose-driven and aligned with defined objectives to avoid greenwashing.

“We appreciate the strides made by the Parliament towards a more robust [carbon dioxide removal] certification framework. In the pursuit of effective climate action, however, certifying units without a clear understanding of their use is like navigating unknown waters without a compass,” she said.

Carbon Gap wants certificates to be used only to balance emissions that cannot be otherwise reduced and those coming from fossil fuels to be countered by highly-durable permanent removals, adhering to the so-called ‘like for like principle’.