Where are we on EU removals

The EU carbon removal market is advancing faster on paper than it is in practice. The rules for this, agreed in 2024, established the first EU-wide certification framework for carbon removals, and the first permanent-removal methodologies for DACCS, BioCCS and biochar entered into force in February 2026. Recognition of voluntary standards is now underway, yet the market itself remains fragile. The technologies used to generate removal units are capital-intensive and untested at scale, meaning that the available volumes – the supply – are very limited. Demand is concentrated among a handful of large corporate buyers with no binding obligation to buy. The Commission’s EU Buyers’ Club, launched at CRCF Days (20-21 May), aims to aggregate demand and standardise contracts, but it is voluntary and cannot substitute for compliance-driven demand. The club itself is still in the blueprint and governance design phase, with the first offtake commitments targeted by the end of 2026. Whether the removal market develops beyond a niche depends almost entirely on how the ETS review, expected in July, resolves the question of mandatory integration.