Early this week, CO2 Value Europe submitted its response to the European Commission’s consultation on the carbon removals certification mechanism (CRCM).
In our response, we first reminded policy-makers how different Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) technologies could contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions in different ways, and all have a role to play in mitigating climate change. We then detailed which CCU pathways can be clearly identified as carbon removals as per agreed IPCC definitions, like direct air capture to mineralisation and biogenic CO2 to mineralisation, and how they should be included in the future CRCM.
OUR MAIN RECOMMENDATIONS:
– The CRCM should be the unique instrument to certify all carbon removals.
– The CRCM shouldn’t hamper future innovations.
– The CRCM should act complementary to different EU policies and instruments.
– Provide legal certainty and incentive to economic players to invest in carbon removals.
The Certification of carbon removals initiative will propose EU rules on certifying carbon removals, and at the same time will develop the necessary rules to monitor, report and verify the authenticity of these removal processes. The aim is to expand sustainable carbon removals and encourage the use of innovative solutions to capture and either recycle or store CO2 in a way it is not reemitted. This represents a necessary and significant step towards integrating carbon removals into EU climate policies.
Our detailed position, listing the key principles that we believe should structure the carbon removal certification mechanism, can be found here.
