The EU’s long-awaited Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) framework is kicking into gear with the approval of methodologies for direct air capture, bioenergy and carbon capture and storage and biochar. Holly Nicholson unpacks what this means for players in the voluntary carbon market.
The European Commission has now approved the first three methodologies under its CRCF initiative, marking a significant milestone in the development of regulatory frameworks for certifying permanent carbon removals. The methodologies cover direct air capture with carbon storage (DACCS), biogenic emissions capture with carbon storage (BioCCS), and biochar carbon removal (BCR).
The CRCF establishes the EU as the first mover in creating a comprehensive, government-backed standard for certifying durable carbon removals. While the framework is voluntary, the Commission is exploring mechanisms to incentivise uptake, including establishing a ‘buyers’ club‘ for CRCF credits and assessing potential integration with the EU Emissions Trading System from around 2030. In the near term, CRCF credits will primarily serve the voluntary market, offering EU corporate buyers a regulatory-endorsed option for high-integrity removals.
Inside the methodologies
One of the approved CRCF methodologies covers the direct air capture of CO2 from the atmosphere. Pictured: Climeworks’ Mammoth plant in Iceland – the world’s largest operating direct air capture facility. Image courtesy of Climeworks
The three approved methodologies establish rigorous requirements designed to ensure environmental integrity while remaining practical for carbon project developers.
DACCS captures CO2 directly from the atmosphere and injects it into geological storage sites permitted under the EU’s CCS Directive. Under CRCF, the capture facility must be located in the EU, though storage can utilise shared infrastructure, including cross-border sites. Projects are deemed additional by default, with a standardised baseline of zero, acknowledging the funding gap that currently prevents deployment at scale.
BioCCS follows similar storage requirements but captures CO2 from biogenic sources – specifically as a by-product of existing production processes rather than purpose-grown feedstock. Under CRCF, all biomass must meet the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive sustainability criteria, and facilities generating heat or electricity cannot increase their capacity beyond what’s required for capture operations.
Biochar must meet strict permanence thresholds under CRCF, with requirements specified on the ratio of hydrogen to organic carbon and either reflectance testing or decay modelling to demonstrate durability over a 200-year timeframe. If biochar represents more than half of a project’s energy outputs, only waste or residue feedstocks are eligible. Applications are limited to agricultural and forest soils, construction materials, and landscaping, each with specific contaminant limits.
All three methodologies require comprehensive life-cycle assessments, including capital emissions, mandate a maximum uncertainty of ±20%, and require re-certification at least every five years.
Carbon farming and construction product methodologies are expected to follow through EU delegated acts later in 2026 and 2027, significantly expanding the scope of activities that can be certified under the framework. The new methodologies delegated regulation is likely to be approved by the European Council and the European Parliament this year.
Abatable’s angle
A changing landscape for carbon removal certification
The CRCF approval comes as corporate carbon credit buyers face expanding options for purchasing certified high-quality carbon removals. The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) has recently approved six carbon dioxide removal methodologies for its Core Carbon Principles (CCP) label, while the UK is developing its own Greenhouse Gas Removals (GGR) framework.
Rather than creating fragmentation, these developments point to a more nuanced future: regulatory frameworks like the CRCF aren’t replacing the VCM but instead working alongside existing infrastructure to serve different market needs.
Under CRCF, VCM standards like Verra, Gold Standard, and Isometric can apply to the European Commission for recognition as CRCF ‘certification schemes’. Once recognised, they adopt the EU’s methodologies while continuing to operate their registries. The same verification bodies that currently audit VCM projects will conduct CRCF audits, applying the EU’s quantification rules instead of VCM methodologies.
The registries themselves can host both CRCF and VCM credits. Verra, for example, could contain traditional VCM credits alongside CRCF-compliant units, tagged separately to prevent confusion. This dual-issuing capability is explicit in the regulation: schemes can certify the same project under both frameworks, but each tonne can only be issued once – project developers must choose which framework applies to each vintage.
Until the European Commission establishes a centralised EU registry by December 2028, these scheme-operated registries will be the primary infrastructure for CRCF credits. The regulation requires them to be interoperable, though the technical specifications for how that works in practice are still to be defined through acts expected later this year.
Recognition decisions for the first VCM standards are expected in late 2026. Projects could then begin CRCF certification in early 2027, with the first credits reaching registries after re-certification audits in late 2027 or early 2028.
What does this mean for market players?
For carbon credit buyers, CRCF units offer regulatory backing that may strengthen perceived integrity. They will align with the European Commission’s exploration of credit integration into the ETS from 2030.
For carbon project developers, the choice between VCM and CRCF certification provides flexibility: pursue cost-effective VCM certification for global markets, or accept the higher monitoring and verification costs of CRCF to supply buyers seeking regulatory-endorsed removals.
Geography matters too – only EU-located capture facilities are eligible for CRCF, limiting which projects can access this route. The expansion of certification options means buyers and developers can match their approach to their specific needs rather than fitting into a single framework.
In summary, VCM standards aren’t being sidelined by regulatory frameworks – they’re being integrated into them. CRCF certification becomes another service that existing standards can offer, sitting alongside their VCM operations.
To understand more about how EU and other regulations affect your carbon credit strategy, get in touch with our team.
