The European Commission proposal for a regulatory framework to certify carbon removals, published today, provides a great opportunity to further decarbonise the food sector.
The food and drink manufacturing industry processes around 70% of EU agricultural output and is committed to support farmers to reduce carbon emissions through measures such as premium prices, knowledge transfer, and specific contracts.
FoodDrinkEurope Director General Dirk Jacobs said the establishment of an EU regulatory framework for the certification of carbon removals was “another essential steppingstone” towards achieving the EU’s climate-neutral objective.
He said: “Food and drink businesses will play a significant role in the process of certifying carbon removals. Indeed, many businesses are already committed to science-based targets for greenhouse gas reduction, requiring them to work within their value chains to meet their climate goals.
“Given this central role, the regulation should allow the agri-food chain to claim removals generated within the food value chain, with a preferential access to credits generated by those removals.”
Moving forward, FoodDrinkEurope hopes to be part of the new expert group that will discuss non-legislative acts and a robust methodology for certifying carbon removals and avoiding greenwashing. We expect the Commission to announce the membership of this group in the coming days.
