The EC sees “indispensable” capturing and storing CO ₂ to achieve climate neutrality

The vice president of the European Commission (EC) for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, said on Monday that the capture and storage of _CO2 is “indispensable” to achieve climate neutrality in 2050, that is, not to release more carbon dioxide than the community territory can absorb.

CO2 capture and storage

“Capturing _CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it in the long term is indispensable if we are to achieve climate neutrality by mid-century,” the politician said during a conference on sustainable carbon cycles organised by the EC.

In any case, he stressed that farmers, foresters and “other land managers” who contribute to storing carbon in ecosystems “must be financially rewarded” for it.

“This is also about better income and new business opportunities for those who are the guardians of our natural environment. We need to deploy technologies that recycle carbon from waste, from sustainable biomass or directly from the atmosphere to provide the industry with circular carbon (which can be reused), because carbon will still be needed for our industry.”

In December, the European Commission presented a communication to guide Member States in the field of _CO2 capture and storage.

Brussels wants agriculture to absorb 42 million tonnes of CO by 2030₂ through reforestation, the creation of new forest masses, agroforestry, fallow, wetland restoration or the improvement of soil organic carbon, and storage captures another 5 million tons, which would be added to natural sinks such as oceans and forests.

To this end, it will develop an internal market for capturing, using and storing carbon and the necessary cross-border _CO2 transport infrastructure.

Another leg of this strategy is to promote the circular use of captured carbon, since part of it can be used to generate synthetic fuels, plastics, rubbers or chemicals.

Regulatory framework

By the end of 2022, the Commission will present a regulatory framework for the certification of carbon disposals based on “robust and transparent carbon accounting standards and requirements to monitor and verify the authenticity and environmental integrity of high-quality sustainable carbon disposals”.

Timmermans said Monday that investing in new technologies “provides great positive results,” but said there will be nature-based and technology-based solutions for _CO2 capture and storage.

On carbon dioxide sequestration in agricultural soils, he stressed that there is “a great appetite for a robust and consistent approach to reward carbon sequestration” in agriculture, but admitted that it must be ensured that CO capture₂ “it really has happened” and ensure that both large and small farms can “invest in new monitoring tools”.

He said Brussels, when assessing strategic plans on how countries intend to implement the new CAP, will ensure those documents provide “the necessary support” for carbon dioxide capture.

He assured that the Commission “will not be shy” when it comes to pointing out “the deficiencies” of the plans to the countries “if they do not comply with what they have agreed between them.”

Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said _co2 capture in agriculture is “a key opportunity” for that sector to be “more environmentally and climate-friendly” and agricultural policy “more favourable” for farmers.

“Farmers and foresters will have an increasingly important role in the coming years in reducing emissions and increasing the EU’s carbon sinks,” he said.

The French Minister of Agriculture, Julien Denormandie, whose country holds the six-monthly presidency of the Union, stressed that agricultural or forest soils are capable of capturing more CO₂ that trees and also emphasized the creation of “economic valorization mechanisms” for farmers on the capture of carbon in soils.

Source: EFE Green