Analysis of the European Commission’s legislative proposal for the Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF)

The European Commission has proposed a greenwashing tool with potentially disastrous implications for climate, nature and citizens. 

On 30 November 2022, the Commission published the Proposal for a Regulation establishing a Union certification framework for carbon removals (CRCF). Our analysis of the proposal has, regrettably, found that it falls woefully short of what is needed to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises. This paper gives an initial analysis of the proposal and proposes key solutions for a reliable, robust, and trustworthy certification framework.