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Climate Action

Expert group on carbon removals

Introduction

The Expert Group on carbon removals assists the Commission’s work on the voluntary certification of carbon removals.

Specifically, the Expert Group will:

  • Assist in the preparation and implementation of policy initiatives and related legislative proposals in the field of carbon removals, including carbon farming and industrial carbon removal initiatives;

  • Facilitate an exchange of experiences and good practices from existing public and private carbon removal initiatives including key issues of certification, quantification, monitoring and reporting in addition to assessing other criteria such as additionality, durability, environmental integrity and transparency;

  • Establish an effective cooperation between the Commission, Member States and stakeholders on questions relating to the implementation of EU legislation, programmes and policies in the field of carbon removals;

  • Assist in the preparation of relevant delegated acts;

  • Assist in the early preparation of implementing acts in accordance with Regulation (EU) N°182/2011;

  • Assist in identifying, assessing and realising synergies with other policy developments in the land use, forestry and agriculture sector, in particular with regard to Regulation (EU) 2018/841 on Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry, and in the industrial sectors.

The Expert Group counts around 70 members, securing a broad and equitable representation of independent experts and stakeholders from national authorities, public entities, businesses, industry, non-governmental organisations, certification bodies and research institutions in the field of carbon removals.

The group meets at least twice a year, both in person and remotely. The work and process of the Expert Group will be carried out openly, inclusively, and ensure transparency, in line with the Commission’s rules on expert groups.

Next steps

    1. March 2023
      Kick off meeting
    2. June 2023
      Meeting on carbon farming methodologies
      • Soil
      • Forest
      • Peatlands
    3. Oct 2023
      Meeting on industrial removals
      • Permanent storage
      • Long-lasting carbon storage products
    4. April 2024
      4th Expert Group meeting

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    Certification methodologies review papers

    The certification methodologies review papers for carbon farming, carbon removals with permanent storage, and biogenic carbon storage in buildings are available below. These documents have been compiled to provide input for the discussion on certification methodologies at the Carbon Removals Expert Group meetings. Their purpose is to provide an overview of existing certification methodologies as well as relevant legislations, and identify elements within these frameworks relevant to implementing the QU.A.L.ITY criteria for further analyses.

    April 2024 | 4th EU Carbon Removals Expert Group meeting

    In April 2024, the next Expert Group meeting will take place online to discuss the following:

    • certification framework
    • certification process, verification, and registries
    • carbon farming
    • permanent removals and long-term storage in products.

    The meeting will also be web streamed.

    October 2023 | Expert Group meeting on industrial carbon removal certification methodologies

    Expert Group meeting on industrial carbon removal methodologies - 25-26 October 2023

    The third meeting of the Expert Group took place on 25 and 26 October 2023 in Brussels and focused on certification methodologies for industrial removals.

    Your opinion is important to us and we would appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to complete our post-event feedback survey.

    June 2023 | Expert Group meeting on carbon farming certification methodologies

    Expert Group on Carbon Removals meeting on carbon farming

    The second meeting of the Expert Group took place on 21 and 22 June 2023 in Brussels and focused on certification methodologies for carbon farming.

    March 2023 | Kick-off meeting of the Carbon Removal Expert Group

    The first meeting of the Expert Group took place on 7 March 2023 in Brussels:

    Documentation

    Click on the + signs for more information.