MEPs in the European Parliament have agreed to set up a system to improve the EU’s capacity to quantify, monitor and verify carbon removals.

MEPs stressed on Tuesday that the system must be in line with international standards and that an EU registry must be set up to ensure transparency, provide information to the public and to avoid the risk of fraud and double counting of carbon removals.

They also see a need to distinguish between the definitions, quality criteria and the rules on carbon removals, carbon farming and carbon storage in products, due to their differences and environmental impact.

Regulate the market

After the vote, rapporteur Lídia Pereira of the EPP Group said: “Climate change is already so serious that we cannot rely solely on emissions reductions, but also need to remove carbon.

“This tool makes this possible, as we are advancing with rules to regulate a market that has been plagued by greenwashing, lack of clarity and distrust.

"Certification will help attract private investment in carbon removal projects, thereby assisting us in our climate transition and furthering Europe's climate leadership.”

MEPs in the parliament are now ready to start negotiations with EU member states on what the framework will look like.

Consultation

Earlier this month, the Department of Agriculture's public consultation on a carbon farming framework closed to submissions.

The framework will seek to clarify how to ensure sequestered carbon remains stored and how much carbon farming will pay farmers.

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue stated that carbon farming can reward farmers for the carbon removed from the atmosphere and stored in “soils, forests, grasslands, croplands and hedgerows”.