Commission proposals to absorb, recycle and store carbon sustainably

The Commission has adopted a Communication on ‘Sustainable Carbon Cycles’, setting out how to increase carbon sequesters from the atmosphere. To offset the effect of our _CO2 emissions, the EU will need to drastically reduce its dependence on fossil carbon, increase carbon sequestration in agricultural soils to store more carbon in nature, and encourage industrial solutions to remove and recycle carbon in a sustainable and verifiable way. The removal and storage of more carbon from the atmosphere, oceans and coastal wetlands is essential to meet the EU’s legally binding commitment to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.

Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President responsible for the European Green Deal, said: “Carbon sequestrations are crucial to meeting our climate commitments. Along with a drastic reduction in emissions, we need sustainable solutions to absorb and recycle carbon, which will make our economy more resilient and help us fight both the climate and biodiversity crises. Today we set out the fundamental principles and objectives of our work with a view to preparing the necessary standards. These rules will ensure that carbon sequestrations are credible and have the desired effect, and will contribute to creating new business opportunities in carbon sequestration for farmers, foresters and other land managers.”

Janusz Wojciechowski, Commissioner for Agriculture, added: “Agriculture and forestry are our allies in the fight against climate change and mitigate its effects by absorbing carbon from the atmosphere. Carbon sequestration in agricultural soils will strengthen the contribution of farmers and foresters to the decarbonisation of our economy, by providing them with additional income while protecting biodiversity, making farms more resilient to natural disasters and ensuring food security. Research and innovation will also contribute to this goal by providing new solutions for farmers and foresters.”

The Communication sets out short- and medium-term measures to support carbon sequestration in agricultural soils and to extend this ecological business model in order to better reward land managers for this service and the protection of biodiversity. By 2030, initiatives in this regard should bring 42 million tonnes of _CO2 storage to Europe’s natural carbon sinks. Some of the measures to achieve this objective are the following:

promoting carbon sequestration practices in agricultural soils under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and other EU programmes, such as LIFE and the Horizon Europe fact-finding mission ‘A Land Pact for Europe’, and through national public funding and private funding; standardise the monitoring, reporting and testing methodologies necessary to facilitate clear and reliable certification rules on carbon sequestration in agricultural soils that allow the development of voluntary carbon markets; provide better knowledge, data management and advisory services tailored to land managers, both in land managers and in the blue carbon ecosystem.

The Communication also aims to formulate initiatives on blue carbon, as the use of nature-based solutions in coastal wetlands and regenerative aquaculture brings new benefits to ocean regeneration and oxygen production, as well as to food security.

While the European Green Deal focuses on drastically reducing the use of fossil carbon, the EU economy will continue to need carbon as a feedstock for industrial processes, such as the production of synthetic fuels, plastics, rubber, chemicals and other advanced materials. This carbon is increasingly generated by the bioeconomy and technological solutions for the capture, use and storage of _CO2. The Commission will engage in a dialogue with stakeholders with the aim of ensuring that at least 20% of the carbon in chemicals and plastics comes from sustainable non-fossil sources by 2030. This will be done taking full account of the EU’s biodiversity and circular economy objectives and the next policy framework on bio-based, biodegradable and compostable plastics. In order to better manage these new carbon streams, sustain innovative technologies and achieve carbon sequestrations at the necessary scale, the Commission will contribute to promoting an internal market for carbon capture, utilisation and storage and the necessary cross-border _CO2 transport infrastructure. By 2030, 5 Mt of _CO2 must be removed annually from the atmosphere and permanently stored using technological solutions. The key instrument for financing these technologies in the short term is the Innovation Fund, funded by the EU Emissions Trading System.

By the end of 2022, the Commission will propose an EU regulatory framework for the certification of carbon sequestrations based on rigorous and transparent carbon accounting standards and requirements for the purposes of monitoring and verifying the authenticity and environmental integrity of high-quality sustainable carbon sequestrations. These standards will provide the necessary legal framework to extend carbon sequestration in agricultural soils and industrial solutions that remove carbon from the atmosphere. A call for data will also be launched in January 2022.

Source: Eurocarne