Today, MEP Lidia Pereira (EPP, Portugal) published her draft report on the Carbon Removal Certification Framework, in her capacity as the European Parliament’s rapporteur on the file. The legislation is intended to reliably quantify the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, a type of climate action that the IPCC has stated is an ‘unavoidable’ component of net-zero targets. 

Many of Pereira’s suggested changes are much-needed, such as the correction of definitions, the stronger wording on permanence and monitoring of storage, and the greater emphasis on liabilities. That said,  broader issues remain, such as guarantees that removal certificates would not be used to offset emissions that could have otherwise been reduced and a clear differentiation between types of carbon removal activities. 

Mark Preston Aragones, Carbon Accounting Policy Manager said: “Pereira’s changes offer a slight course correction with some substantive improvements on permanence, liability and transparency. However, by failing to explicitly rule out offsetting of avoidable emissions, it is still far short of the anti-greenwashing tool it purports to be.” 

Dr Samantha Eleanor Tanzer, CDR Research and Technology Manager said: “Bellona welcomes the strengthening of requirements for monitoring and liability in the draft CRCF —a CDR activity can only be certifiable if we are able to fully track the stored atmospheric carbon and ensure any re-emission is promptly corrected.” 

For more information:

https://bellona.org/news/eu/2022-11-certifying-removals-an-essential-step-for-net-zero

 https://bellona.org/publication/policy-brief-the-crcf-is-not-yet-fit-for-purpose