Climate Crisis: European Union Steers Carbon Markets to a Brighter Future - Bloomberg
Climate Crisis: European Union Steers Carbon Markets to a Brighter Future - Bloomberg
The EU Gives Carbon Traders What They Want — More Rules
New regulations should help establish benchmarks for offset credits.
The carbon-offset market gets some much-needed new rules.Photographer: Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images
The European Union is quietly setting the direction for the future of the carbon markets, with two pieces of regulation clearing big hurdles in recent weeks. Watch closely, because these initiatives will reshape the industry.
On Tuesday , the European Commission and the European Parliament struck a provisional deal to compile rules for certifying carbon-removal credits — the Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF). “This is the first time in history that we have a policy which clearly defines quality carbon removal and seeks to quantify it,” Sebastian Manhart, senior policy advisor at removals marketplace Carbonfuture GmbH, told me. “Other nations will probably copy it.”
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”