Joint Letter on EU CRCF Priorites

Today, we sent a joint letter to the EU Parliament and the Council highlighting key demands to prevent greenwashing, prioritise emission reductions, protect biodiversity, address social impacts, drive a transition with public funds, and establish robust certification rules.

On 30 November 2022, the European Commission proposed a draft Regulation for a EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF), which among others includes land-based activities under the concept of carbon farming. The proposal is extremely weak, leaves the door wide open for offsetting and greenwashing, risking significant mitigation deterrence and might even hinder an agroecological transition. 

The Council and the European Parliament have started their process of finding a common position between the groups. This is the right time to make voices of food and farming groups that push for a systemic transformation of the EU agriculture sector heard. 

Today, we've sent a joint letter to Members of the European Parliament and the Council to emphasise key concerns and priorities for land-based activities in the CRCF. The letter outlines the following key demands: 

Prevent the proposal from establishing a greenwashing tool by rejecting the possibility of using the generated credits as offsets, including in voluntary carbon markets;

Attribute absolute priority to emission reduction efforts in EU policy, and recognise that the reliance on removals will make the EU fall short of reaching climate neutrality;

Restrain from certifying emission reductions as removals; 

Ensure that biodiversity and ecosystem integrity are integral criteria for a holistic approach to land-based activities; 

Ensure that the promotion of land-based carbon sequestration activities does not result in socially adverse impacts, land grabbing in particular; 

Ensure that public funds, including the CAP, drive a systemic transition of the agriculture sector, ensuring benefits for local communities;

Lay down fundamental rules that have been left unaddressed for a robust, reliable, and trustworthy certification framework, including setting stringent liability mechanisms in case of reversals, permanence, and requirements for monitoring and reporting, as part of the final CRCF;

Ensure that critical elements of the CRCF are finalised in the trilogue process, and not relegated to delegated acts. 

Read the full letter