CREDIBLE policy brief on the potential and limitations of an EU Buyers’ Club for carbon farming
Over the past few years, a lot of attention has been given to the design of the CRCF methodologies and certification steps to make the supply side of generated units coherent and robust. All of this activity took place while the CRCF development remained agnostic about the “use case” for the certified units. This is now changing, and the Commission’s first answer to “what will happen with these units?” seems to be: an EU Buyers’ Club.
This policy brief developed by the CREDIBLE project discusses the potential and limitations of an EU Buyers’ Club for CRCF carbon farming units in the current policy context. It concludes that due to a number of reasons such as the lack of regulatory basis and its voluntary nature, a Buyers’ Club for carbon farming units is unlikely to save the day. At least, it is a forum for discussion on sustainability among agri-food actors. At best, it provides the financial support for a soft launch for the CRCF methodologies and certification protocols. It is however unlikely to provide a realistic projection of and form the basis of sustained demand.
Eventually, a voluntary system will inevitably fall short as it will never reach the needed scale, nor is it the right basis for necessary measures that may require going beyond short-term business interests. While it can be seen as a first step, it may turn out to be a dear distraction and delay the start of an unavoidable compliance system, be it market-based or regulatory.
Mathieu Mal, Policy Officer for Agriculture and Climate, European Environmental Bureau, CREDIBLE Policy Work Package Lead.