The rules of the Innovation Fund should be changed: materials saving should be explicitly assessed as a mandatory criterion with equal importance to the degree of innovation when assessing candidate projects
The continued allocation of free emission allowances has contributed to the limited decarbonisation of steel, cement and chemicals sectors, which remain the major sources of EU industrial CO2 pollution.
On behalf of an NGO Carbon Removals Expert Group, CMW’s Wijnand Stoefs took to the floor at an European Commission meeting to explain why proposed draft methodologies for the EU Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming regulation are lacking scientific and environmental integrity.
Proposals disappointingly push political interests to the front, while scientific and environmental concerns take a back seat.
This document sets out the expert feedback received for the various CRCF draft methodologies (published in April 2025). Carbon Market Watch submitted its written feedback to the European Commission through the CRCF EU survey.
Carbon Market Watch submitted this during the global stakeholder consultation of the proposed ‘Comprehensive Lowered Emission Assessment and Reporting (CLEAR) Methodology for Cooking Energy Transitions’ under Article 6.4. The CLEAR methodology is a step in the right direction for clean cookstove methodologies but it still contains shortcomings which must be addressed. Failure to tackle these issues risks perpetuating the pervasive overcrediting linked to many existing cookstove methodologies.
The improvement of the functioning of the Modernisation Fund to help lower income member states to decarbonise is particularly important in light of the upcoming ETS2, carbon pricing for buildings and road transport in 2027
While we appreciate the detailed work of the Methodological Expert Panel on the important process of baseline setting, we do not see all elements of the Article 6.4 Rules, Modalities and Procedures (RMPs) reflected in the proposed Standard.
Specifically, we see the need for further alignment of the baseline provisions with encouraging ambition over time and alignment with nationally determined contributions, long-term low-emission development strategies and particularly the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.
In December 2024, the EU launched its certification framework for permanent carbon removals, carbon farming and carbon storage in products, commonly known as the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) certification Framework. As its name suggests, the CRCF aims to certify a variety of practices or processes, namely: permanent carbon removals, carbon farming, and carbon …
Read more “Expert feedback on CRCF methodologies”
In light of the Article 6.4 negotiations at COP29 in Baku, and the possibility for the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA) to give further guidance on the development of the Article 6.4 carbon crediting mechanism, Carbon Market Watch has prepared recommendations on CMA’s further guidance to the Article 6.4 Supervisory Body.