Carbon removal policy in Europe just got more real. The EU has published Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2358, the technical rulebook for how carbon removal and carbon farming certification actually works under the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation.
Translation: the EU didn’t just say “we want certified carbon removal.” It specified exactly how you certify it, who can certify it, and what auditors must check.
What the CRCF Covers
The CRCF Regulation (EU) 2024/3012 established the first EU-wide voluntary certification framework for three categories:
- Permanent carbon removals — DAC, BECCS, and other engineered approaches with durable storage
- Carbon farming — agricultural and land-use practices that sequester carbon in soils and biomass
- Carbon storage in products — biochar in construction materials, CO₂ in concrete, and similar approaches
The regulation itself set the policy goals. What was missing — until now — were the detailed rules for how the system actually operates.
What the Implementing Regulation Specifies
Implementing Regulation 2025/2358 addresses three core operational areas:
1. Certification Bodies
Organizations that certify carbon removal projects must be accredited according to EN ISO/IEC 17065 by a national accreditation body. When conducting verification activities, they must also meet the requirements of EN ISO/IEC 17029 and EN ISO 14065. These are established international standards for conformity assessment — the same types of standards used to certify everything from organic food to industrial safety.
2. Certification Schemes
Schemes that want to certify carbon removal under the CRCF must comply with the new implementing rules. The European Commission will assess each scheme — including consulting the European cooperation for Accreditation (EA) — before granting official recognition.
3. Certification Methodologies
The Commission is developing specific methodologies for different types of removal activities:
- Permanent removals — the first delegated act was adopted on February 3, 2026, and is currently in a two-month scrutiny period with Parliament and the Council. If no objections arise, it should be published in the Official Journal in early April.
- Carbon farming — draft methodologies are in development
- Carbon storage in products — forthcoming
Why This Matters
The EU is building something that doesn’t really exist anywhere else: a regulated, standardized framework for certifying carbon removal. The US has no equivalent. The UK has early-stage efforts. Most other jurisdictions rely entirely on voluntary registries with no government oversight.
The CRCF won’t replace voluntary markets — it’s a voluntary certification framework, not a compliance mechanism. But it creates an EU-endorsed quality standard. Companies and governments that want to buy high-integrity carbon removal credits will be able to look for CRCF-certified projects and know they’ve been audited against a consistent, government-reviewed methodology.
For the CDR industry, this is infrastructure. It’s not as exciting as a new DAC plant or a Google carbon removal purchase. But infrastructure is what turns a collection of startups into a functioning market. Without trusted certification, scaling carbon removal means scaling an honor system — and as the carbon offset market learned the hard way, honor systems don’t scale.
The EU is building the rails. Now the industry needs to run on them.