Following the adoption of the Council’s General Approach by the Ministers of Environment on 17th June, Copa and Cogeca congratulate the work done in the Council in the past months that led to the adoption of a balanced text. The General Approach takes into consideration the reality on the farms and gives the right flexibility to the use of carbon credits in the voluntary market. Copa and Cogeca hope to see these improvements defended during the upcoming institutional trilogue negotiations.
Among other elements, Copa and Cogeca welcome the possibility to learn the verification process for claims (“Simplified procedure”) on those agricultural practices that already fall under the environmental framework of the Common Agricultural Policy. A decision that also goes in the right direction in the context of CAP simplification.
Copa and Cogeca welcome the continuity that environmental ministers decided to maintain with the Carbon Removal Certification Framework in the General Approach by allowing operators to use carbon credits to balance out emissions, while maintaining the original proposal’s requirements to transparently communicate on the credits used. This option for operators will facilitate the work in reaching the EU climate targets.
