Motivated by a desire to keep down the cost of achieving its climate targets, the EU has failed to rule out the double counting of emissions reductions under its Carbon Removals Certification Framework. By so doing it is undermining established standards and its own policies.
Today’s vote at the European Parliament paves the way to interinstitutional negotiations on the Carbon Removals Certification Framework. The EU institutions urgently need to hammer out the many imperfections of the CRCF to ensure that carbon removals become an effective climate action tool.
American fossil fuel companies are tapping taxpayer money to invest heavily in energy-guzzling Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS), all to continue pumping out oil. This has serious ramifications for the climate and global efforts to decarbonise.
Preserving nature, restoring soils and safeguarding biodiversity are urgent and necessary activities. However, branding them as carbon removals is harmful. We need other solutions
Alarm bells for the climate were set off last week by a leak of the European Commission’s proposal for a Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF). The draft leaves many important questions unanswered and vital issues unaddressed, and could usher in an era of greenwashed and money-wasting carbon removals.
Raiding the reserve that underpins the EU’s Emissions Trading System to reduce the European Union’s dependence on Russian gas is short-sighted and destructive, especially as far better solutions exist. The Market Stability Reserve (MSR) is an important element of the EU Emissions Trading System. It has proven effective in supporting the carbon price, and helped …
Read more “Plundering the EU’s carbon market to fight the energy crunch is self-defeating”
National governments in the European Union are botching their planning of carbon removals. This lack of strategic thinking and focus on false solutions threatens the climate and biodiversity, a new study reveals.
Carbon removals will become a vital tool for reducing carbon concentrations in the atmosphere but only massive cuts in emissions will give humanity a fighting chance of keeping global heating to 1.5°C or below, says the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The latest IPCC report, which was released in April, outlines various pathways …
Read more “Carbon removals are no substitute for deep emissions reductions, warns IPCC”
Despite some good elements, the European Commission’s proposed carbon removal strategy leaves the door wide open to offsetting after 2030, which will undermine its ability to reduce emissions, writes Wijnand Stoefs. On 15 December 2021, the European Commission published its Sustainable Carbon Cycles Communication, which showcases its vision for carbon farming, industrial carbon capture and …
Read more “A sustainable carbons cycle or a vicious emissions cycle?”
The European Commission released today its much-anticipated Sustainable Carbon Cycles Communication. The strategy undermines its own goals of reducing atmospheric carbon concentration by allowing companies to use removals to offset their emissions in the future. The strategy sets out a blueprint for how the European Union can harness carbon dioxide removals and so-called carbon farming …
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