19 Amendments of Carmen AVRAM related to 2022/0394(COD)
Amendment 65 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) The aim of this Regulation is to develop a voluntary Union certification framework for carbon removals and carbon farming, with the view to incentivise the uptake of high- quality carbon removals, in full respect of the biodiversity and the zero-pollution objectives. It is a tool to support the achievement of the Union objectives under the Paris Agreement, notably the goal of collective climate neutrality by 2050 laid down in Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council24 . The Union also committed to generate negative emissions after 2050. In accordance with Regulation 2021/119 priority should be given to reduction in direct emissions which will have to be complemented by carbon removals. An important instrument to enhance carbon removals in terrestrial ecosystems is Regulation (EU) 2018/841 of the European Parliament and of the Council25 , which is currently under review, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2023/83925 . The objective of the review is to set out a Union net removals target of 310 Mt CO2 eq by 2030, and to allocate respective targets to each Member State. __________________ 24 Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 2021 establishing the framework for achieving climate neutrality and amending Regulations (EC) No 401/2009 and (EU) 2018/1999 (‘European Climate Law’) (OJ L 243, 9.7.2021, p. 1). 25 Regulation (EU) 2018/841 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on the inclusion of greenhouse gas emissions and removals from land use, land use change and forestry in the 2030 climate and energy framework, and amending Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 and Decision No 529/2013/EU (OJ L 156, 19.6.2018, p. 1).
Amendment 74 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) The Union certification framework will support the development of carbon removal activities in the Union that result in an unambiguous net carbon removal benefit, while avoiding greenwashing. In the case of carbon farming, such certification framework should also encourage the uptake of carbon removal activities, or of those activities which preserve existing carbon stores, that generate co-benefits for biodiversity, therefore achieving the nature restoration targets set out in Union law on nature restoration. The Union certification framework will be instrumental in meeting the Union climate change mitigation objectives set in international agreements and in the Union legislation.
Amendment 85 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5 a (new)
Recital 5 a (new)
(5 a) The different types of carbon removal activities vary in terms of the removal process, the storage medium and the timescales of the storage, which can vary from decades to centuries for carbon farming or storage in certain products, to permanent storage in geological formations. For this reason, different rules should be set out for these kind of activities.
Amendment 88 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5 b (new)
Recital 5 b (new)
(5 b) The scope of carbon farming covered under the Union carbon removal certification framework should be consistent with the scope of Regulation (EU) 2018/841, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2023/839, and of the reporting under that Regulation in the national greenhouse gas inventories.
Amendment 90 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) This Regulation should set out the requirements under which carbon removals and carbon farming should be eligible for certification under the Union certification framework. To this end, carbon removals and carbon farming should be quantified in an accurate and robust way taking into account their level of uncertainty in order to limit the risk of overestimating the quantity of CO2 removed from the atmosphere; and they should be generated only by carbon removal activities that generate a net carbon removal benefit, are additional, aim to ensure long-term storage of carbon, and have a neutral impact or co-benefit on sustainability objectives. Furthermore, carbon removals should be subject to independent third-party auditing in order to ensure the credibility and reliability of the certification process. Mandatory Union carbon pricing rules established through Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council26 are in place which regulate the treatment of emissions from activities covered by that Directive. This Regulation should be without prejudice to Directive 2003/87/EC, except in relation to the certification of removals of emissions from sustainable biomass which are zero-rated in accordance with Annex IV thereto. __________________ 26 Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC (OJ L 275, 25.10.2003, p. 32).
Amendment 91 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) This Regulation should set out the requirements under which carbon removals should be eligible for certification under the Union certification framework. To this end, carbon removals should be quantified in an accurate and robust way; and they should be generated only by carbon removal activities that generate a net carbon removal benefit or enable the maintenance of existing carbon pools, are additional, aim to ensure long-term storage of carbon, and have a neutral impact or co- benefit on sustainability objectives. Furthermore, carbon removals should be subject to independent third-party auditing in order to ensure the credibility and reliability of the certification process. Mandatory Union carbon pricing rules established through Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council26 are in place which regulate the treatment of emissions from activities covered by that Directive. This Regulation should be without prejudice to Directive 2003/87/EC, except in relation to the certification of removals of emissions from sustainable biomass which are zero-rated in accordance with Annex IV thereto. __________________ 26 Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC (OJ L 275, 25.10.2003, p. 32).
Amendment 104 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) A carbon removal activity should result in a net carbon removal benefit showing that it delivers a positive climate impact. The net carbon removal benefit should be computed following two steps. First, operators should quantify the amount of additional carbon removals that a carbon removal activity has generated in comparison to a baseline. A standardised baseline reflecting the standard performance of comparable activities in similar social, economic, environmental and technological circumstances and geographical locations should be preferred because it ensures objectivity, minimises compliance and other administrative costs, and positively recognises the action of first movers who have already engaged in carbon removal activities. In the context of carbon farming, the use of available digital technologies, including electronic databases and geographic information systems, remote sensing, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and of electronic maps should be promoted to decrease the costs of establishing baselines and of monitoring carbon removal activities. However, where it is not possible to set such a standardised baseline, a project-specific baseline based on the operator’s individual performance may be used. In order to reflect the social, economic, environmental and technological developments and to encourage ambition over time in line with the Paris Agreement, baselines should be periodically updated, while keeping the administrative burden manageable, in particular for individual operators.
Amendment 116 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) Carbon removals should be quantified in a relevant, accurate, complete, consistent and comparable manner. Uncertainties in the quantification should be duly reported and accounted in order to limit the risk of overestimating the quantity of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere and should be publicly available through an Union register in order to ensure transparency and traceability to carbon removal unit certificates. Carbon removals generated by carbon farming should be quantified with a high level of accuracy to assure the highest quality and minimise uncertainties. Moreover, in order to incentivise synergies between Union climate and biodiversity objectives, enhanced monitoring of land needs to be required, thereby helping to protect and enhance the resilience of nature-based carbon removals throughout the Union. The satellite and on-site monitoring and reporting of emissions and removals need to closely reflect those approaches, and make the best use of advanced technologies available under Union programmes, such as Copernicus, making full use of already existing tools, and ensure consistency with the national greenhouse gas inventories.
Amendment 135 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) Carbon removal activities and carbon farming have a strong potential to deliver win-win solutions for sustainability, even if trade- offs cannot be excluded. Therefore, it is appropriate to establish minimum environmental, economic and social sustainability requirements to ensure that carbon removal activities have at least a neutral impact or generate co-benefits for the sustainability objectives of climate change mitigation and adaptation, the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems, the sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, the transition to a circular economy, and pollution prevention and controlprotection of soil quality and prevention of erosion, the fair remuneration of operators, the protection of employment, the transition to a circular economy, and pollution prevention and control. Furthermore, carbon farming should not have a negative impact on food production and food supply in the Union or in the third countries. Those sustainability requirements should, as appropriate, and taking into consideration local conditions, build on the technical screening criteria for Do Not Significant Harm concerning forestry activities and underground permanent geological storage of CO2, laid down in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/213928 , and on the sustainability criteria for forest and agriculture biomass raw material laid down in Article 29 of Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council29 . Practices, such as forest monocultures, that produce harmful effects for biodiversity should not be eligible for certification. __________________ 28 Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2139 of 4 June 2021 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council by establishing the technical screening criteria for determining the conditions under which an economic activity qualifies as contributing substantially to climate change mitigation or climate change adaptation and for determining whether that economic activity causes no significant harm to any of the other environmental objectives (OJ L 442, 9.12.2021, p. 1). 29 Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (OJ L 328, 21.12.2018, p. 82).
Amendment 153 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) Farming practices that remove CO2 from the atmosphere contribute to the climate neutrality objective and should be rewarded, either via the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) or other public or private initiatives such as sustainable private finance, contractual arrangements along supply chain, voluntary carbon markets and product claims.. Specifically, this Regulation should take into account farming practices as referenced in the Communication on Sustainable Carbon Cycles30 . __________________ 30 Communication from the Commission, Sustainable Carbon Cycles, COM (20221) 800.
Amendment 213 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) quality criteria for carbon removal and carbon farming activities that take place in the Union;
Amendment 219 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) rules for the verification and certification of carbon removals and carbon farming;
Amendment 268 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point h
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point h
(h) ‘carbon farming’ means a carbon removal or reduction activity related to land management that results in the increase of carbon storage in living biomass, dead organic matter and soils by enhancing carbon capture and/or reducing the release of carbon to the atmosphere;
Amendment 287 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Carbon removals and carbon farming shall be eligible for certification under this Regulation where they meet bothall of the following conditions:
Amendment 293 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
(b a) the minimum information on the carbon removal or carbon farming to be included in the Union registry referred to in Article 12 has been provided by the certification scheme to the Commission in accordance with Annex 2a.
Amendment 299 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Net carbon removal benefit = CRbaseline – CRtotal – GHGreduction – GHGincrease > 0
Amendment 307 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point c a (new)
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point c a (new)
(c a) GHGreduction is the emission reduction of GHG emissions accounted for in CO2 or CO2 equivalent, achieved through the implementation of the carbon farming activity.
Amendment 516 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 18 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 18 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. By 31 July 2026, the Commission should assess how biogenic emissions reduction resulting from carbon farming activity may be accounted towards the Union 2040 climate target and, if appropriate, present a legislative proposal to amend Article 1a paragraph 2 of this Regulation.
Amendment 525 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex II a (new)
Annex II a (new)