The European CO2 emissions trading scheme should incorporate carbon removals to boost the ramp-up of the technology, the EU climate advisory board said. 

Given record-temperatures in recent years, there is an “urgent need for a strong policy response to scale up removals across the EU,” said experts who advise the European Commission on climate policy today.

Carbon removals are contentious, with NGOs and some experts warning against relying on future sequestration to avoid present-day climate action. However the European Commission has identified the practice as key to meeting its 2050 net zero target.

The experts suggest separate permanent and temporary removal targets, and a gradual linking of the scheme to Europe’s carbon trading scheme, the EU ETS.

“This would allow permanent removal projects to generate credits,” said the board’s chair Ottmar Edenhofer.

This could create “an innovative financing model for scaling up removals while limiting public budget dependency,” he added, while cautioning that strict sustainability criteria would be needed to define what constitutes a permanent removal.

Among experts, an integration of CO2 removal into ETS is increasingly favoured, although some warn of the risks posed to the effectiveness of ETS, if carbon removal allows additional certificates to be printed.

Politically, the centre-right EPP has long been in favour of integrating negative emissions, while left-of-centre politicians have highlighted the risks.

[DC]