The negotiations of the Carbon Removals Certification Framework (CRCF) put EU climate policies at a critical juncture. These negotiations raised some essential questions concerning the further development of EU climate policy, such as:  

• What is the role of carbon removals in future EU climate policies? 
• For what purposes should they be used, and what should they not be used for? 
• Is the integration of carbon removals into the Emission Trading Scheme, the Effort Sharing Regulation or other EU laws a good idea? 
• Can Carbon Removal Certificates play a role in subsidy schemes, taxation or permitting rules? 

Our work regarding these questions was presented and discussed at this workshop, which was jointly organized by Ecologic institute, Oeko-Institut and the German Environment Agency.

At the workshop, we also presented results of the project “Assessing the Certification Framework for Carbon Dioxide Removals in the EU”. The project developed a typology of carbon removals, assessed the Commission’s CRCF proposal, evaluated the removal potentials of natural sinks and discussed options for the implementation and specification of the CRCF. This project was funded by the German Environment Agency.