Open Letter on the Clean Industrial Deal: Securing Europe’s Climate Leadershipand Economic Competitiveness by Advancing the Carbon Removal Sector
Open Letter on the Clean Industrial Deal
Together with 44 organisations, Bioenergy Europe has addressed an open letter to President von der Leyen, Executive Vice-Presidents Ribera and Séjourné, and Commissioner Hoekstra. The letter calls on the European Commission to ensure the Clean Industrial Deal supports investment, innovation, and deployment in carbon dioxide removal (CDR), a cornerstone of Europe’s path to climate neutrality.
The signatories believe that the Clean Industrial Deal will be a critical step to enhance EU competitiveness and climate leadership. Achieving climate neutrality by 2050 is impossible without carbon dioxide removal (CDR) to address residual and historical emissions. For the EU, between 400 and 800 megatonnes of removals will be necessary each year by 2050, underscoring the urgency of scaling this sector into a gigatonne scale industry within the next five years.
To support CDR, the Clean Industrial Deal and the revised European Climate Law should set separate sub-targets for emissions reductions, LULUCF, and permanent removals. This will provide clarity, drive investment, and enable large-scale CDR deployment, ensuring the EU meets its climate goals.
• Streamline permitting processes to accelerate CDR deployment.
• Establish an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) for CDR to foster cross-border coordination.
• Introduce competitive financial incentives to attract and retain CDR companies.
• Invest in Workforce Development to support a growing CDR industry and ensure a just transition.
CDR is critical to meeting net-zero targets. With the Clean Industrial Deal and Climate Law revision on the horizon, now is the time to ensure carbon removals are at the heart of Europe’s climate strategy.
