Five European CO2 removal associations have released a joint statement, welcoming the European Commission’s proposal for permanent removals in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) and urging for four key changes that would help unlock the large-scale removals needed to meet climate goals in time. 

The statement is backed by DVNE (Germany), NEP (Europe), AFEN (France), NCRA (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Finland), and RIRC (Italy), which together represent more than 170 companies and organizations. 

In July 2026, the EU Commission released a revision of the EU ETS that paved the way for a European market for permanent carbon dioxide removal (CDR). Highlighting that the design of this market is what is important now, the released statement calls for changes that should be made to the EU ETS revision to ensure this framework can deliver 250 million tonnes of permanent CDR by 2040. 

Through the EU ETS, the European Commission plans to finance permanent CDR at scale for the first time, and between 2031 and 2040, 250 million additional allowances would be auctioned, where the Union would use the proceeds to procure an equivalent volume of permanent CDR centrally. 

With this motion, the annual procurement is set to rise towards 48 million tonnes by 2040. As this proposal is now on the table, the five EU CDR associations bring attention to four updates that can guarantee the needed CO2 removal volumes. 

According to the joint statement, one of the needed changes is to make the 250 million tonnes of permanent CDR by 2040 a binding target, where this volume would be written explicitly into law as a delivery obligation by 2040, since only auctioning 250 million allowances does not yet create a legal obligation to deliver 250 million tonnes of permanent CDR.

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