In a policy brief recently published as part of STG Policy Papers, ‘Creating EU Demand for Paris-Aligned Carbon Dioxide Removal Credits’, Jacopo Bencini, Jos Delbeke and Piotr Dombrowicki have laid down the considerations that the EU policy-makers should take into account in relation to international carbon credits regulated under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement and recommended a pathway for enabling the EU to efficiently tackle emissions resulting from international aviation. In doing so, they have stressed that the pursuance of the course of action suggested by them is fundamental for enabling the EU to meet the climate targets it has set for the years 2040 and 2050.
Key takeaways from the policy brief:
- Policies levying charges for carbon emissions have been praised for decreasing the amount of global emissions with low cost.
- At the regional level, the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism played a pioneering role in triggering a number of countries to launch or consider introducing initiatives requiring the importers of goods produced via carbon emissions to pay for the adverse environmental impact generated during the production of such goods.
- On the contrary, voluntary carbon markets have not been functioning adequately and their situation did not improve in 2024.
- Even though decisions that were made regarding the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) established under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement were perceived as a sign of progress, they have also shed light upon the fact that more progress needs to be made regarding its implementation.
Source: https://climateseed.com/blog/cop28-carbon-market-takeaways
- Assistance can be provided to countries willing to exchange carbon credits by entities that develop projects, engage in monitoring, reporting and verification, register and rate the exchange of carbon removal credits.
- Within this framework, the EU should use its policy-making competences to purchase a set of carbon removal credits that are considered to be of high quality.
- Within this context, the EU can play a significant role in the implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement by determining the section of its NDC that can be achieved via international cooperation.
- The integrity of the credits originating from the Clean Development Mechanism set up under the Kyoto Protocol was challenged during the period when such credits were accepted as part of the EU Emission Trading Scheme.
- In light of the experience with Clean Development Mechanism, conditions should be imposed regarding ‘quantity, quality, EU-level bidding and timing’ for the entry of such credits to the EU.
- Moreover, the EU should ensure that the credits it purchases are beneficial for local stakeholders or biodiversity.
- In addition, the price offered by the EU for such credits should exceed a minimum threshold.
- The fulfillment of the aforementioned requirements can have a positive impact upon the prospective decisions that will be made under the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism.
- Moreover, the EU and the countries from the Global South from which it purchases cdr credits should apply pressure as members of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to ensure that the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), a voluntary initiative set up to under the ICAO to tackle emissions of the operators in the aviation sector, starts delivering emission reductions.
- Lastly, the EU can consider establishing its own framework for the exchange of international cdr credits in addition to rules set out in the Carbon Removal Certification Framework.
To read the policy brief, visit DSpace