Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

AddedRecital 18: (18) It is appropriate to develop detailed certification methodologies for the different activities in order to apply, in a standardised, verifiable and comparable way, the quality criteria laid down in this Regulation. Those methodologies should ensure the robust and transparent certification of the net benefit generated by the activity, be easy to use and developed in a manner that facilitates the verification of their compliance, and avoid creating a disproportionate administrative and financial burden for operators or group of operators, in particular for small farmers and forest holders and for small and medium enterprises, without compromising the quality of the carbon removals or co-benefits. To this end, the Commission should be empowered to supplement this Regulation by adopting delegated acts establishing detailed certification methodologies for the different carbon removal activities. Those methodologies should be developed in close consultation with the Platform on Carbon Removals , Carbon Farming and Carbon Storage in Product Activities and all other interested actors. They need to be based on a thorough impact assessment based on the best available scientific evidence and a minimum four-week public consultation period, and build upon existing public and private schemes and methodologies for certification where those comply with the requirements and criteria set out in this Regulation, and take into account any relevant standard and rules adopted at national, Uni…

RemovedRecital 21: (21) The different end-uses of certified carbon removal units, such as the compilation of national and corporate greenhouse gas inventories, including with regard to Regulation (EU) 2018/841 of the European Parliament and of the Council31, the proof of climate-related and other environmental corporate claims (including on biodiversity), or the exchange of verified carbon removal units through voluntary carbon offsetting markets, should be regulated under the appropriate Union legal frameworks to ensure consistency and avoid regulatory duplication. More specifically, the rules and criteria on the use of carbon removal certificates for corporate climate-related and other environmental claims, including claims about offsets, climate neutrality or similar, are to be regulated in Directive 2023/... [on substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims], while the rules and criteria on the use of carbon removal certificates for the compilation of corporate greenhouse gas inventories are regulated in Directive (EU) 2022/2464 of the European Parliament and of the Council31a. In addition, the possible future use of carbon removal certificates towards compliance with greenhouse gas emission reduction targets at Union and national level is to be assessed in the context of the relevant reviews under Regulation (EU) 2018/842 of the European Parliament and of the Council31b and Directive 2003/87/EC, and in the proposal on the 2040 targets to be presented in accordance with …

AddedRecital 19: (19) In order to ensure a credible and reliable certification process, activities should be subject to independent third-party auditing. In particular, all activities should be subject to an initial certification audit before their implementation, verifying their compliance with the quality criteria set out in this Regulation, including the correct quantification of the expected net benefit. All activities should also be subject to periodic re-certification audits at least every five years for carbon farming activities, and at least every 10 years for other activities, following a risk-based approach, to verify the compliance of the generated carbon removals, carbon farming sequestration, carbon farming emission reductions or carbon storage in products. To this end, the Commission should be empowered to adopt implementing acts to set out the structure, technical details, and the minimum information to be contained in the description of the activity, and in the certification and re-certification audit reports.

RemovedThe CRCF establishes a monitoring, reporting and verification mechanism, while several other acts have already established (ETS, LULUCF) or are establishing (CSRD, Green Claims) review clauses or specific provisions on the different types of end-use of carbon removals in their appropriate context. These should not be mixed up.

AddedRecital 20: (20) Providing land managers with improved knowledge, tools and methods for a better assessment and optimisation of carbon farming is key for cost-efficient implementation of mitigation actions and for securing their engagement in carbon farming. This is particularly relevant for Union small farmers or forest holders that often lack the know-how and the expertise required to implement carbon farming activities and to comply with the required quality criteria and related certification methodologies. Therefore, it is appropriate to require that producer organisations facilitate the provision of relevant advisory services through technical advice to their members and, where relevant, support them with guidance and resources. The Common Agricultural Policy and national State aid, as well as other financial instruments, can support financially the provision of advisory services, knowledge exchange, training, information actions or interactive innovation projects with farmers and foresters. In cases of tenancy, the scheme should provide appropriate financial benefits or rewards for the manager of the land doing the work.

RemovedRecital 26: (26) By...[ insert the date five years after the date of entry into force of this Regulation], the Commission should establish and maintain a public Union registry in order to ensure transparency and full traceability of carbon removal certificates, and to avoid the risk of fraud and double counting. Fraud may occur if more than one certificate is issued for the same carbon removal activity because the activity has been registered under two different certification schemes or has been registered twice under the same scheme. Fraud may also occur when the same certificate is used several times to make the same claim based on a carbon removal activity or a carbon removal unit. A certification scheme should provide to the Commission all information required to be stored and made publicly available in electronic form in the Union registry. Such information includes the documents resulting from the certification process of carbon removals, including certification audits and re-certification audit reports, the certificates and updated certificates and the information included therein, the current status of a certified carbon removal unit, for example whether active, retired/in use, or expired, log of transactions and, if applicable, the current holder and purpose for which a certified carbon removal unit is held and the certified carbon removal units that meet the Union quality criteria. The information should also be accessible in disaggregated form at the level of each carbon remov…

AddedRecital 20 a (new): (20a) All removals, sequestration and biogenic emission reductions generated under this Regulation should contribute to achieving the Union’s nationally determined contributions (NDCs) or climate targets and objectives. However, in order to avoid double counting, a certified unit should not be used or claimed by more than one natural or legal person, such as undertakings or public authorities other than a Member State, like city councils or other municipalities, at any point in time, and should not be counted towards more than one Member State’s greenhouse gas inventories at any point in time.

RemovedA Union registry will ensure more transparency and comparability than separate registries, but will require some time to set up. In the interim period, certification schemes should be allowed to use their own registries.

AddedRecital 20 b (new): (20b) The existing advisory services in agriculture and forestry, such as the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS), should also contribute to broader knowledge and information to support sustainable practices that enhance carbon sequestration while promoting biodiversity and nature restoration, and to ensure easy access to this information including the use of digital solutions where relevant. AKIS should also set up a knowledge-sharing digital platform, providing technical advice to land managers and providing feedback to Member States.

RemovedRecital 27: (27) Certification schemes play an important role in providing evidence of compliance with the quality criteria for carbon removals. It is therefore appropriate for the Commission to require certification schemes to report regularly on their activity. Such reports should be made public, in full or where appropriate in an aggregated format, in order to increase transparency, trust and traceability, and to improve supervision by the Commission. Furthermore, such reporting would provide the necessary information for the Commission to report on the operation of the certification schemes with a view to identifying best practices and submitting, if appropriate, a proposal to further promote such best practices. In order to ensure comparable and consistent reporting, the Commission should be empowered to adopt implementing acts setting out the technical details on the content and format of the reports drawn up by the certification schemes.

AddedRecital 20 c (new): (20c) The Commission should also support capacity building in Member States through adequate investments in training and educational programmes, including to potential public and private stakeholders and their workforce. Such support should also take into account the diverging realities of Member States and regions, including by identifying the best suited activities with regard to the different specificities.

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – introductory part: 1. The objective of this Regulation is to facilitate the deployment of carbon removals by operators or groups of operators while ensuring that those removals do not undermine the greenhouse gas emission reductions required pursuant to Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1119. To that end, this Regulation establishes a voluntary Union framework for the certification of carbon removals by laying down:

AddedRecital 21: (21) The different end-uses of certified units, such as the compilation of national and corporate greenhouse gas inventories, including with regard to Regulation (EU) 2018/841 of the European Parliament and of the Council31, the proof of climate-related and other environmental corporate claims (including on biodiversity), or the exchange of verified units through voluntary markets, should be regulated through this Regulation. The use of units certified under this Regulation by an undertaking for voluntary compensation, offset or reduction claims in its corporate greenhouse gas inventory reporting should be the same as that set in Directive (EU).../... of the European Parliament and of the Council [Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition], which prohibits the use of certified units for claiming that, based on greenhouse gas emissions offsetting, a product or a company has a neutral, reduced or positive impact on the environment in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, for the possible future use of certified units towards the compliance with the Union and national climate framework, the Commission should by...[12 months from the date of entry into force of this Regulation] assess and, where appropriate, present a legislative proposal on the establishment of Union targets for permanent carbon removals and for land-based sequestration, and should, in accordance with Directive 2003/87/EC, by 31 July 2026 assess how permanent carbon storage could be accounted for a…

RemovedCarbon removal needs significant upscaling in order to achieve the 2050 climate neutrality objective, but should not substitute the significant GHG emission reductions required pursuant to the European Climate Law.

AddedRecital 22: (22) To ensure an accurate, robust and transparent verification, certification bodies responsible for performing the certification of activities should have the required competences and skills and should be accredited by national accreditation authorities pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council32 . To avoid possible conflicts of interest, the certification bodies should also be completely legally and financially independent from the operator carrying out the activity that is subject to the certification. In addition, Member States and, where applicable, regional authorities, should contribute towards ensuring the correct implementation of the certification process by supervising the operation of certification bodies that are accredited by national accreditation authorities, and by informing the certification schemes about relevant non-conformity findings.

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point a: (a) quality criteria for carbon removal activities that take place in the Union and for carbon removal activities that take place in the Union with geological storage in the Union or in third countries that have the same legal requirements as referred to in Directive 2009/31/EC;

AddedRecital 23: (23) Certification schemes should be used by operators to demonstrate compliance with this Regulation. Therefore, certification schemes should operate on the basis of reliable and transparent rules and procedures and should ensure accuracy, reliability, integrity and non-repudiation of origin, and protection against fraud of information and of data submitted by operators. They should also ensure the correct accounting of the verified units generated by a certified activity, notably by avoiding double counting. To this end, the Commission should be empowered to adopt implementing acts, including adequate standards of reliability, transparency, accounting and of independent auditing to be applied by certification schemes, so as to ensure the necessary legal certainty as regards the rules applicable to operators and to certification schemes. To ensure a cost-effective certification process, those technical harmonised rules on certification should also have the objective of reducing unnecessary administrative burden for operators, or group of operators, in particular for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), including small farmers and foresters.

RemovedGeological storage possibilities are well explored in countries such as Norway and Iceland. Therefore, carbon captured (removed) in the Union, but geologically stored in a third country under the same legal requirements should also be certifiable.

AddedRecital 24: (24) In order to ensure a reliable and harmonised control of certification, the Commission should be able to adopt decisions recognising certification schemes that meet the requirements set out in this Regulation, including with respect to technical competence, reliability, transparency and independent auditing. Such recognition decisions should be limited in time and should be made publicly available. To this end, the Commission should be empowered to adopt implementing acts on the content and processes of Union recognition of certification schemes.

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new): (ba) rules on the monitoring, validity and expiry, and liability for carbon removals;

AddedRecital 26: (26) The Commission should establish and maintain an interoperable and public Union registry in order to ensure transparency, trustworthiness and full traceability of certificates, and to avoid the risk of fraud and double counting. Fraud may occur if more than one certificate is issued for the same activity because the activity has been registered under two different certification schemes or has been registered twice under the same scheme. Fraud may also occur when the same certificate is used several times to make the same claim based on an activity or unit. All information in the Union registry should be easy to navigate and search. Certification schemes should provide to the Commission all information required to be stored and made publicly available in electronic form in the Union registry. Such information should include the documents resulting from the certification process, including certification audits and re-certification audit reports, the certificates and updated certificates and the information included therein, the current status of a certified unit, for example whether active, retired/in use, or expired, the log of transactions and, if applicable, the current holder and purpose for which the certificate is held and the price paid to the operator. Prior to the establishment of the Union public registry, certification schemes recognised by the Commission should maintain and store all the information required to be stored and made publicly available later on the …

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point b b (new): (bb) general criteria on the issuance and use of certified carbon removal units;

AddedRecital 27: (27) Certification schemes play an important role in providing evidence of compliance with the quality criteria for carbon removals. It is therefore appropriate for the Commission to require certification schemes to report regularly on their activity. Such reports should be made public, in full or, where necessary to preserve the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information in conformity with the relevant Union and national law, excluding that commercially sensitive information, in order to increase public transparency, trust, traceability and scrutiny, and to improve supervision by the Commission. Furthermore, such reporting would provide the necessary information for the Commission to report on the operation of the certification schemes with a view to identifying best practices and submitting, if appropriate, a proposal to further promote such best practices. In order to ensure comparable and consistent reporting, the Commission should be empowered to adopt implementing acts setting out the technical details on the content and format of the reports drawn up by the certification schemes.

RemovedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point a: (a) ‘carbon removal’ means human activities capturing CO2 from the atmosphere and durably storing it in geological reservoirs, terrestrial and marine ecosystems, or in products;

AddedRecital 28: (28) To enable operators to apply the quality criteria set out in this Regulation in a standardised and cost-effective way, while taking into account the specific characteristics of different activities, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission to supplement this Regulation by establishing detailed certification methodologies for different types of activities. The Commission should also be able to amend Annex II listing the minimum information to be contained in the certificates. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level and through public consultations for all draft delegated acts for a period of at least four weeks, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making34 . In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States' experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.

RemovedThe definition of carbon removal has to be consistent with international and scientific standards to ensure compatibility. The IPCC defines carbon removal as "Human activities capturing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it durably in geological, land or ocean reservoirs, or in products."

AddedRecital 30: (30) The Commission should review the implementation of this Regulation 3 years following the entry into force of this Regulation, and subsequently not later than six months after the global stocktake agreed under Article 14 of the Paris Agreement. Those reviews should take into account the relevant developments concerning the Union legislation, technological and scientific progress, market developments in the field of carbon removals, carbon farming and carbon storage in products, and food security including food availability and affordability, and should be informed by the results of the global stocktake of the Paris Agreement.

RemovedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point b: (b) ‘carbon removal activity’ means one or more practices or processes carried out by an operator resulting in permanent carbon storage, or in carbon storage in products, or the activity of carbon farming;

AddedRecital 31: (31) The objectives of this Regulation, namely to promote the deployment of high quality carbon removals and carbon farming while minimising the risk of greenwashing, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States alone, and by reason of the scale and effects of the proposed action, those objectives can be better achieved at Union level. Therefore, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve those objectives,

RemovedThe Commission proposal creates confusion between the definitions of ‘carbon storage in products’ and ‘carbon farming’ further down, and this definition of ‘carbon removal activity’ which duplicates and differentiates how those types of activities are described. The amendment streamlines and aligns with the detailed definitions further down.

AddedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – introductory part: 1. The objective of this Regulation is to facilitate and encourage the deployment and enhancement of carbon removals, carbon farming and carbon storage in products by operators or groups of operators as a complement to the irreversible and gradual reduction of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors to meet the objectives and targets laid down in Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 and the goals of the Paris Agreement. To that end, this Regulation establishes a voluntary Union framework for the certification of carbon removals, carbon farming and carbon storage in products by laying down:

RemovedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point g: (g) ‘permanent carbon storage’ means a carbon removal activity that captures and, under normal circumstances and using appropriate management practices, physically stores atmospheric or biogenic carbon for several centuries for example through geological storage and carbon mineralisation, including bioenergy with carbon capture and storage and direct air carbon capture and storage;

AddedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point a: (a) quality criteria for activities that take place in the Union;

RemovedPermanent carbon storage may consist of various types of removal (capture) and various types of storage. Carbon that is physically stored and isolated from the active carbon cycle, with reversal risk low enough such that it is expected to persist for multiple centuries, is considered to fall under the category of permanent carbon storage.

AddedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point b: (b) rules for the verification and certification of activities;

RemovedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point h: (h) ‘carbon farming’ means a carbon removal activity related to land or coastal management that results in the increase of carbon storage in living biomass, dead organic matter and soils by enhancing carbon capture and that can also reduce carbon release, for example in the case of peatland rewetting;

AddedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point c a (new): (ca) rules on the issuance and use of certified units;

RemovedSome carbon farming processes gradually reduce and halt carbon release and subsequently result in carbon removal, for example in the case of peatland rewetting. All stages are an integral part of this process. In addition, coastal management has been added in line with p. 60 of the impact assessment, corresponding recitals and the new LULUCF Regulation (EU) 2023/839.

AddedArticle 1 – paragraph 2: 2. This voluntary Union framework for the certification of carbon removals, carbon farming and carbon storage in products does not apply to emissions falling within the scope of Directive 2003/87/EC, with the exception of the storage of carbon dioxide emissions from sustainable biomass that meet the sustainability criteria and greenhouse gas emission saving criteria established under Directive (EU) 2018/2001 and are zero-rated in accordance with Annex IV of Directive 2003/87/EC.

RemovedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point i: (i) ‘carbon storage in products’ means a carbon removal activity that either permanently chemically binds atmospheric and biogenic carbon in products or materials, or that ensures long-term storage of atmospheric and biogenic carbon in long-lasting products or materials for at least several decades in a manner consistent with Regulation (EU) 2018/841 and IPCC Guidelines as adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC or the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement, in particular harvested wood products;

AddedArticle 1 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. Where a legally binding agreement has been concluded between the Union and a third country concerning atmospheric or biogenic carbon captured in the Union but geologically stored in a Member of the EEA, or in a third country bordering the Union, and that Member of the EEA or that country applies the same legal requirements as those set out in Directive 2009/31/EC, this Regulation shall apply to those captured emissions.

RemovedThe amendment ensures regulatory consistency with the revised ETS Directive on the one hand, and with the revised LULUCF Regulation (EU) 2023/839 and IPCC Guidelines in terms of wood products used in construction on the other hand.

AddedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point a: (a) ‘carbon removal’ means the permanent storage of atmospheric or biogenic carbon for several centuries, which is not combined with Enhanced Hydrocarbon Recovery

RemovedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point i a (new): (ia) ‘geological storage of CO2’ means geological storage as defined in Article 3(1) of Directive 2009/31/EC;

AddedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point a a (new): (aa) ‘carbon farming emission reduction’ means an activity consisting of one or more carbon farming practices or processes carried out by an operator that results in the reduction of carbon release from a biogenic carbon pool, the reduction of nitrous oxide release from agriculture soils or manure management, or the reduction of methane release from enteric fermentation or manure management to the atmosphere through a carbon farming activity;

RemovedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point i b (new): (ib) ‘permanently chemically bound in a product’ means a form of storage of carbon that prevents the carbon from entering the atmosphere under normal use, including any normal activity taking place after the end of the life of the product, in accordance with Article 12(3b) of Directive 2003/87/EC;

AddedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point b: deleted

RemovedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point o a (new): (oa) ‘reversal’ means any release of the carbon removed, stored and certified occurring during the monitoring period; in the event that the monitoring is discontinued before the end of the monitoring period, the carbon shall also be considered to have been reversed.

AddedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point c: (c) ‘biogenic carbon pool’ means living biomass, litter, dead wood, dead organic matter, mineral soils and organic soils as set out in points (a) to (f) of Part B of Annex I to Regulation 2018/841;

RemovedArticle 3 – paragraph 1 – introductory part: Carbon removals shall be eligible for certification under this Regulation where they meet all of the following conditions:

AddedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point d: (d) ‘operator’ means any legal or natural person who operates or controls a an activity, including public entities and public authorities, or to whom decisive economic power over the technical functioning of the activity has been delegated; in the case of a carbon farming activity, an operator is a farmer as defined in Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 or a forest owner or manager as defined by national law, or a public entity or public authority;

RemovedArticle 3 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new): (ba) the minimum information on the carbon removals to be included in the Union registry referred to in Article 12 has been provided by the certification scheme to the Commission in accordance with Annex 2a.

AddedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point e: (e) ‘group of operators’ means a legal entity that represents more than one operator and is responsible for ensuring that those operators comply with this Regulation; in the case of a carbon farming activity, ‘group of operators’ means a cooperative or a legal entity that represents more than one farmer, forest owner or manager, or public entities or public authorities, or producer organisations or producer groups;

RemovedA Union registry should be established to ensure full, transparent and comparable information on certified carbon removal units. Certification schemes should provide the minimum information to be included in this registry to the Commission.

AddedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point f: (f) ‘monitoring period’ means a period, the duration of which is determined for each type of activity in accordance with Article 6, over which the storage of carbon is monitored by the operator or group of operators and during which the operator remains liable;

RemovedArticle 4 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point c: (c) GHGincrease is the increase in direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, other than those from biogenic carbon pools in the case of carbon farming, which are already covered under CRtotal pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/841 as amended by Regulation 2023/839, which are due to the implementation of the carbon removal activity.

AddedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point g: (g) ‘permanent carbon storage’ means an activity consisting of one or more practices or processes carried out by an operator that, under normal circumstances and using appropriate management practices, stores atmospheric or biogenic carbon for several centuries through geological storage of CO2 or permanently bound carbon mineralisation;

RemovedClarification: LULUCF emissions are covered under the ‘CRtotal’ variable. For example: soil emissions due to soil disturbance in the first years of an afforestation project are LULUCF emissions in the scope of carbon farming. This explains why increases in LULUCF emissions are not included under the ‘GHGincrease’ variable.

AddedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point h: (h) ‘carbon farming’ means an activity related to land management, coastal management or animal husbandry, that results in carbon farming sequestration or carbon farming emission reductions for a period of at least five years;

RemovedArticle 4 – paragraph 4: 4. Carbon removals shall be quantified in a relevant, accurate, complete, consistent, comparable and transparent manner. Uncertainties in the quantification of carbon removals shall be duly reported and accounted in a manner that is conservative, proportionate to the level of uncertainty.