The key differences between permanent carbon removal, carbon agriculture and carbon storage in products within the EU arise mainly from Regulation (EU) 2024/3012 This Regulation establishes a voluntary Union certification framework for these three areas in order to facilitate and encourage their deployment as a complement to sustained emission reductions.

Here are the key differences:

• Permanent Carbon Removals:
  • The goal is to achieve long-term and stable removal of CO₂ from the atmosphere.
  • Regulation (EU) 2024/3012 provides for them qualitative criteria and rules for verification and certification.
  • The amounts of permanent carbon removals fall within the scope of net greenhouse gas removals included in Regulation (EU) 2018/841 on the integration of greenhouse gas emissions and removals from land use, land-use change and forestry into the 2030 climate and energy framework.
• Carbon Farming:
  • It focuses on improving soil management and agricultural practices with the aim of increasing carbon sequestration in soil and biomass and reducing emissions from agricultural activity.
  • “Operator” in the case of carbon farming activities includes: farmers and other managers of activities in terrestrial or coastal environments, forest owners and managers.
  • Regulation (EU) 2024/3012 establishes quality criteria and certification methodologies also for carbon agriculture, including incentives for creating additional environmental benefits.
  • The range of quantities relating to the reduction of emissions from land in carbon agriculture corresponds to the net greenhouse gas emissions from biogenic carbon stocks referred to in points (e) and (f) of Part B of Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. 2018/841.
• Carbon Storage in Products:
  • It is about using products that sequester carbon throughout their life cycle, temporarily or permanently storing carbon outside the atmosphere.
  • An example might be carbon sequestration in harvested wood productsreferred to in Regulation (EU) 2018/841This Regulation lays down rules for accounting for emissions and removals resulting from changes in the carbon stock of harvested wood products in categories such as paper, particleboard and sawn timber, using a first-order decay function and default half-life values.
  • Regulation (EU) 2024/3012 extends this concept to a wider range of products and introduces framework for their certification.

In short, permanent carbon removal is an umbrella term for long-term CO₂ sequestration methods, carbon agriculture is a specific approach in the agriculture and forestry sector to increase sequestration in soil and biomass and reduce emissions, and carbon storage in products concerns the use of materials and products to store captured carbon during their lifetime. Regulation (EU) 2024/3012 aims to create a unified framework for certification of all three areas within the EU. Spring