On Friday 17 November, the Council of the EU’s negotiating mandate on the establishment of a European voluntary certification framework was adopted by the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States to the EU (Coreper).
The proposal issued by the Commission in November 2022 (see EUROPE 13074/9) establishes monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) rules for carbon removals.
In the words of Spain’s Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera Rodríguez, as quoted in a press release, the regulation envisaged by the Member States would make it possible to “offset the unavoidable emissions caused by sectors that are difficult to reduce and that will inevitably remain carbon-dependent”. It would cover various methods of carbon removal, including industrial technologies such as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage and direct air capture. It also includes agricultural practices such as forest restoration and soil and wetland management, as well as carbon storage in sustainable products such as wood-based construction.
The Council’s mandate extends certification to agricultural activities that reduce soil emissions, provided that they contribute to improving the soil’s carbon balance. However, certain activities, such as avoided deforestation or the reduction of livestock emissions, remain outside the scope of this regulation.
Activities eligible for certification must meet four criteria: Quantification, Additionality, Long-term Storage and Sustainability (QU.ALITY). The Commission, assisted by a group of experts, would draw up specific certification methodologies for each type of activity. The Member States have made changes to refine the scope of these methodologies and take better account of the specific characteristics of the activities concerned.
The certification process will take place in two stages. Operators wishing to obtain certification will have to provide detailed information on their activity and its compliance with the QU.ALITY criteria to a certification body. This certification body will carry out an independent audit before issuing a certificate, which will have to be renewed every 5 years.
The Council also asked the Commission to set up a shared electronic register to store and make accessible documents relating to the certification process, including certificates and audit summaries.
Ahead of the agreement, CAN Europe (Climate Action Network), a coalition of environmental NGOs, expressed its concerns about the text in a letter (https://aeur.eu/f/9mf ) on Thursday 16 November, highlighting problems such as emissions offsetting, double counting and temporary carbon storage. NGOs are calling for a more precise and better-defined regulatory framework.
The Council of the EU is now ready to negotiate with the European Parliament, pending adoption of the MEPs’ position (see EUROPE 13278/8) at the plenary session on Tuesday 21 November (see other news).
To see the negotiating mandate, go to https://aeur.eu/f/9mg (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)