European Carbon Certification must be demanding… and appealing

Improved forest management (IFM) can help mitigate climate change by increasing carbon sequestration in forests and wood products while ensuring the highest possible sustainable level of forest carbon stocks, taking into account natural disturbances. In Europe, these practices could be encouraged, especially to counterbalance the decline in forest sinks in some countries. There is an opportunity to incentivize these practices under the European Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF) regulation. Forest features and improved forest management strategies need to be properly integrated within this new scheme. This is where INFORMA comes in! 

Directing more wood towards long-life products such as panels and insulation materials can help us maximise carbon sinks without increasing forest harvests. That’s because these products store carbon for a longer periods of time in form of long-lasting construction and renovation materials. But for this to happen in practice, more market opportunities and production capacity are needed. How can public policies help?

A few days after the conclusion of negotiations on the European Union’s carbon removals certification Framework (CRCF), I4CE helped organise the European Carbon Farming Summit in Valencia, as part of the CREDIBLE project. The high level of stakeholder participation at the summit testifies to the expectations that this new tool will contribute to a better economic valuation of carbon farming practices. The summit raised high hopes for improving and harmonising carbon measurement to certify projects, in particular through remote sensing, in a sector where there is a great deal of uncertainty. While it is vital to improve measurement and monitoring, uncertainty must not be allowed to justify inaction, and the key is to find the right balance between cost and accuracy.