Summary/Abstract
European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change published its report ‘Scaling up carbon dioxide removals – Recommendations for navigating opportunities and risks in the EU’ . The report outlines key actions for the EU to accelerate the deployment of carbon dioxide removals, emphasising their potential to drive innovation, restore ecosystems and create economic opportunities, while ensuring environmental and social safeguards.
Among other things, the report recommends setting separate legal targets for emissions, temporary removals from land and permanent removals from novel methods. The Advisory Board also recommends gradually integrating permanent removals into the EU Emissions Trading System. This would allow permanent removal projects to generate credits, under strict sustainability criteria, creating an innovative financing model for scaling up removals while limiting public budget dependency. The report further highlights the decline in EU’s carbon sink, and steps to reverse the trend through land management.