Changes from adopted text to adopted text

RemovedRecital 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.

RemovedRecital 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…

RemovedRecital 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.

RemovedRecital 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.

RemovedRecital 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.

RemovedRecital 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 …

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 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.

RemovedRecital 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.

RemovedRecital 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.

RemovedRecital 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,

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

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

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

RemovedArticle 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 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.

RemovedArticle 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 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 b: deleted

RemovedArticle 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 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 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;

RemovedArticle 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 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;

RemovedArticle 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 2 – paragraph 1 – point h a (new): (ha) ‘carbon farming sequestration’ means an activity related to land management in the subcategories of the land use, land use change and forestry sector covered by Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/841, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2023/839, or related to coastal management, consisting of one or more carbon farming practices or processes carried out by an operator that results in the increase of atmospheric or biogenic carbon stored in biogenic carbon pools by enhancing carbon capture, as defined per activity in the certification methodology;

RemovedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point i: (i) ‘carbon storage in products’ means an activity consisting of one or more practices or processes carried out by an operator which ensures long-term storage of atmospheric and biogenic carbon in long-lasting harvested wood products or materials for construction for at least five decades in a manner consistent with other Union environmental objectives, as well as 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;

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

RemovedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point n: (n) ‘certificate’ means a conformity statement issued by the certification body certifying that the activity complies with this Regulation;

RemovedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point o: (o) ‘carbon removal unit’ means one tonne of certified net carbon removal benefit generated by carbon removals and registered by a certification scheme.

RemovedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point o a (new): (oa) ‘reversal’ means the voluntary or involuntary release of carbon back into the atmosphere; in the case of geological storage of CO2, ‘reversal’ has the same meaning as leakage as defined in Article 3(5) of Directive 2009/31/EC or during CO2 transportation;

RemovedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point o b (new): (ob) ‘carbon farming sequestration unit’ means one tonne of certified net carbon farming sequestration benefit generated by carbon farming sequestration;

RemovedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point o c (new): (oc) ‘carbon storage product unit’ means one tonne of certified net carbon product sequestration benefit generated by carbon storage in products and registered by a certification scheme;

RemovedArticle 2 – paragraph 1 – point o d (new): (od) ‘carbon farming emission reduction unit’ means one tonne of certified net carbon farming carbon reduction, net carbon farming nitrogen reduction or net carbon farming methane reduction benefit generated by carbon farming emission reduction and registered by a certification scheme, and separated and identified either as a ‘carbon farming emission reduction unit - carbon’, ‘carbon farming emission reduction unit - nitrogen’, or ‘carbon farming emission reduction unit - methane’;

RemovedArticle 3 – paragraph 1 – introductory part: Carbon removals, carbon farming or carbon storage in products shall be eligible for certification under this Regulation where they meet both of the following conditions:

RemovedArticle 3 – paragraph 1 – point a: (a) they comply with the quality criteria set out in Articles 4 to 7;

RemovedArticle 3 – paragraph 1 – point a a (new): (aa) they comply with the rules on use of units set out in Article 3a;

RemovedArticle 3 a (new): Article 3a / Rules on the issuance and use of units / 1. Carbon farming sequestration and emission reduction units shall be issued by 31 December each year, provided that an annual monitoring check does not show any non-compliance with the requirements set out in this Regulation and does not show a reversal. The certification body shall be responsible for the annual monitoring check based on reliable real-world data, which may be provided by a legal person or relevant authority, such as the paying agency, with the aid of the identification system for agricultural parcels provided for in Article 68 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116. The annual monitoring check shall be performed by 15 October each year. The certification body shall transmit data on any non-compliance or reversal to the certification scheme within one month of the monitoring check. / 2. Any use of units shall ensure the highest integrity of climate mitigation and shall lead to an overall lower concentration of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. All removals, sequestration and emission reductions generated under this Regulation shall contribute to achieving the Union’s nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and climate targets and objectives as set out in Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 and shall not contribute to a third country’s NDC. / 3. A certified unit shall not be used or claimed by more than one legal or natural person at any point in time, and shall not be counted towards more than one Member State’s …

RemovedArticle 4 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1: Net carbon removal benefit = CRbaseline – CRtotal – GHGassociated > 0

RemovedArticle 4 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point c: (c) GHGassociated is the increase in direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, over the entire life cycle of the activity which are due to the implementation of the carbon removal activity, calculated in accordance with protocols set forth in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. This includes, among others, emissions due to energy use, transportation, material inputs, displacement effects due to competing demand for energy or waste heat, and direct and indirect land use change, and covers both impacts within and outside the Union. The certification of a carbon removal activity based on the storage of CO2 from sustainable biomass shall not lead to an increase of the capacity of the plant beyond what is necessary for the carbon capture and storage.

RemovedArticle 4 – paragraph 2: 2. A carbon farming activity shall provide net benefits, which shall be quantified using the following formulas: / Net carbon farming sequestration benefit = (CSbaseline – CStotal) – GHGassociated > 0, where: / (a) CSbaseline is the carbon sequestration under the baseline, / (b) CStotal is the total carbon sequestration of the carbon farming activity, / (c) GHGassociated is the direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions over the entire life cycle of the activity, which are due to the implementation of the carbon farming activity. This includes, among others, emissions due to energy use, transportation, material inputs, and direct and indirect land use change, and covers both impacts within and outside the Union. / Net carbon farming carbon reduction benefit = (RCbaseline – RCtotal – GHGassociated) > 0 / Net carbon farming nitrogen reduction benefit = (N2Obaseline – N2Otota– GHGassociated) > 0 / Net carbon farming methane reduction benefit = (CH4baseline - CH4total– GHGassociated’) > 0 / where: / (a) RCbaseline is the carbon emissions under the baseline; / (b) RCtotal is the total reduction in carbon emissions achieved through the implementation of the carbon farming activity; / (c) GHGassociated is the direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions over the entire life cycle of the activity, which are due to the implementation of the carbon farming activity. This includes, among others, emissions due to energy use, transportation, material inputs, and direct and indirect land…

RemovedArticle 4 – paragraph 2a: 2a. A carbon storage in products activity shall provide a net carbon storage in products benefit, which shall be quantified using the formula: / Net carbon product sequestration benefit = CPSbaseline – CPStotal – GHGassociated > 0 / (a) CPSbaseline is the carbon sequestered in a product under the baseline; / (b) CPStotal is the total carbon sequestered in the product of the activity; / (c) GHGassociated is the increase in direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, over the entire life cycle of the activity which are due to the implementation of the carbon removal activity. This includes, among others, emissions due to energy use, transportation, material inputs, displacement effects due to competing demand for energy or waste heat, and direct and indirect land use change, and covers both impacts within and outside the Union.

RemovedArticle 4 – paragraph 3: 3. Quantities referred to in paragraph 1 points (a), (b) and (c), in paragraph 2, points (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) and (g), and in paragraph 2a, points (a), (b) and (c), shall be designated with a negative sign (-) if they are net greenhouse gas removals or, in the case of carbon farming emission reductions, net greenhouse gas reductions, and with a positive sign (+) if they are net greenhouse gas emissions, they shall be expressed in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

RemovedArticle 4 – paragraph 4: 4. Carbon removals, carbon farming and carbon storage in products 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 as part of the certification methodologies, in a manner that is conservative, proportionate to the level of uncertainty, and in accordance with recognised statistical approaches and the latest available scientific evidence.

RemovedArticle 4 – paragraph 5: 5. In the case of carbon removals or carbon storage in products, the standardised baseline shall be representative of the state-of-the-art performance of common current practices of comparable activities in similar social, economic, environmental and technological circumstances and take into account the geographical context.

RemovedArticle 4 – paragraph 5 a: 5a. In the case of carbon farming, the standardised baseline shall be representative of the performance of common current practices of comparable activities in similar social, economic, environmental and technological circumstances and take into account the geographical context. In the case of carbon farming sequestration, the calculation of the standardised baseline shall not take into account those common current practices of comparable carbon farming sequestration activities that result in net greenhouse gas emissions. In the case of carbon farming emission reduction, the calculation of the standardised baseline shall not take into account those common current practices of comparable carbon farming emission reduction activities that result in increased net greenhouse gas emissions. The respective methodologies shall differentiate between static or dynamic baselines where necessary.

RemovedArticle 4 – paragraph 6: 6. By way of derogation from paragraph 5, where duly justified in the applicable certification methodology by the absence of sufficient comparable activities to be able to set a representative baseline, the baseline may be based on the individual performance of that activity at the start of that activity.

RemovedArticle 4 – paragraph 7: 7. The baseline shall be regularly reviewed and updated by the Commission at least every five years. The baseline shall remain constant for the operator throughout the monitoring period once an activity has started, but shall be reviewed and updated upon re-certification.

RemovedArticle 4 – paragraph 8: deleted

RemovedArticle 4 – paragraph 9: 9. To support the quantification of carbon farming, the operator or group of operators shall gather data on carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions based on the use of Tier 3 methodologies in accordance with the 2006 IPCC guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas inventories, and in a manner compatible with national greenhouse gas inventories under Regulation (EU) 2018/841 and Part 3 of Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2018/1999, taking into account the objective of minimising the administrative burden for small-scale operators in accordance with Article 8(3) of this Regulation.

RemovedArticle 5 – paragraph 1 – introductory part: 1. Each activity shall be additional. To that end, the activity shall meet both of the following criteria:

RemovedArticle 5 – paragraph 1 – point a: (a) it goes beyond Union and national statutory requirements at the level of the individual operator;

RemovedArticle 5 – paragraph 1 – point b: (b) the incentive effect of the certification is needed for the activity to become financially attractive.

RemovedArticle 5 – paragraph 2: (2) Where the baseline is established pursuant to Article 4(5) or (5a), additionality as referred to in paragraph 1, point (a) is considered to be complied with. Where the baseline is established pursuant to Article 4(6), additionality as referred to in paragraph 1, points (a) and (b), shall be demonstrated through specific tests set out as part of the certification methodologies referred to in Article 8.

RemovedArticle 6 – title: Storage duration, monitoring and liability requirements

RemovedArticle 6 – paragraph 1: 1. An operator or group of operators shall ensure and demonstrate that a carbon removal activity results in the permanent storage of carbon.

RemovedArticle 6 – paragraph 1 a (new): 1a. An operator or group of operators shall ensure and demonstrate that a carbon farming activity results in the long-term sequestration of carbon, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, or both.

RemovedArticle 6 – paragraph 1 b (new): 1b. An operator or group of operators shall ensure and demonstrate that a carbon storage in products activity results in the long-term storage of carbon.

RemovedArticle 6 – paragraph 2: 2. For the purposes of paragraphs 1, 1a and 1b, an operator or group of operators shall comply with the following criteria set out in paragraphs 2a to 2e. / (deleted) / (deleted)

RemovedArticle 6 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. An operator or group of operators shall monitor and mitigate any risk of a release of the stored carbon occurring during the monitoring period, which shall be set as follows: / (a) for carbon removal activities, the monitoring period and requirements shall be consistent with Articles 13, 17 and 18 of Directive 2009/31/EC; / (b) for carbon farming activities, the monitoring period and requirements shall cover at least the entire period during which the results of the activity are projected to be sustained as set out in the applicable certification methodology; / (c) for carbon storage in products activities, the monitoring period shall cover the entire lifetime of the product until and including the end of life of the product.