Bioenergy Europe calls for a credible framework to scale permanent carbon removals in the EU ETS review

The revision of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is an important opportunity to strengthen Europe’s climate framework while creating the conditions to scale permanent carbon removals.

Bioenergy Europe welcomes the European Commission’s proposal to integrate permanent removals into the EU ETS. In particular, the inclusion of Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BioCCS) sends an important demand signal and opens a clearer pathway for investment in high-integrity carbon removals.

Permanent removals will be needed alongside deep emissions reductions to address unavoidable residual emissions and reach net zero. They also offer an industrial opportunity for Europe, supporting investment, European value chains and leadership in carbon management.

However, the proposal still requires improvements to deliver a credible and investable framework. Bioenergy Europe calls on the European Parliament and Council to:

1. Preserve a strong and predictable carbon-price signal to maintain incentives for emissions reductions and investment in decarbonisation.
2. Ensure the delivery of 250 Mt of domestic permanent removals, with the allowances financing their purchase drawn from within the existing EU ETS cap and an adequate contingency mechanism.
3. Enable early, bankable purchasing commitments, including long-term offtake and forward contracts before 2029, to provide investment certainty.
4. Include Biochar Carbon Removal alongside BioCCS and DACCS from the initial phase of the EU ETS purchasing mechanism, while supporting a balanced portfolio of permanent removal pathways.
5. Establish a complementary voluntary direct-compliance pathway, allowing ETS-obligated companies to acquire eligible permanent removals under robust environmental integrity and double-counting safeguards.

Integrating permanent carbon removals should strengthen, rather than weaken, the EU ETS. A predictable framework that combines emissions reductions with investment certainty for high-integrity removals will be essential as Europe moves towards its 2040 climate target.

Read Bioenergy Europe’s full position paper on the revision of the EU ETS.