EU Council approves EU certification framework for permanent carbon removal, agriculture and carbon sequestration in products

The Council today gave the final green light to a regulation establishing the first EU-level certification framework for sustainable carbon removal, agriculture and carbon sequestration in products. This voluntary framework will facilitate and support high-quality decarbonisation and land abatement activities in the EU as a complement to sustainable emissions reductions.

Carbon removal and emission reduction in soil

The regulation will be the first step towards introducing a comprehensive certification framework for carbon removal and reduction of emissions in soil to EU legislation. It will help the EU reach its goal of climate neutrality by 2050.

 

The Regulation applies to the following activities within the EU:

• permanent carbon removal , which captures and stores atmospheric or biogenic carbon for several centuries (e.g. bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, direct air capture with storage)
• carbon sequestration activities that capture and store carbon in products with a long life of at least 35 years (such as wood-based construction products)
• carbon farming activities , which increase the sequestration and storage of carbon in forests and soil or which reduce greenhouse gas emissions from soil, carried out over a period of at least five years (e.g. reforestation, restoration of peatlands or wetlands, better use of fertilizers)

(More on consilium.europa.eu)