Are you developing a carbon removal project and want to understand how to certify it? The Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF) is the European Union’s voluntary regulatory framework for certifying carbon removals. It sets uniform and stringent criteria to ensure that every tonne of CO₂ removed is real, measurable, and durable. By meeting these requirements, you can generate “certified units”—carbon credits recognized at the European level.
Certification is not yet operational (the launch is expected between late 2026 and 2027), but understanding the requirements now will help you structure your activities correctly from the start. Here’s what you need to know.
Why the CRCF is a turning point for carbon removals
For the first time, the CRCF introduces an EU-wide regulatory framework into a voluntary carbon market that has so far been fragmented. Dozens of different standards—each with its own rules and methodologies that are difficult to compare—have created complexity for project developers and encouraged the proliferation of low-quality credits.
The CRCF addresses this by establishing four quality criteria (quantification, additionality, long-term storage, sustainability) that every project must meet to generate certified units. It also introduces a certification process based on verification by independent third parties, which check compliance with the criteria and validate the reported data. This approach aims to strengthen the credibility of certified removals.
The CRCF is a voluntary framework: as a project developer, you can choose whether to adopt it or use other certification standards.
Is your project eligible for certification?
To be eligible for certification, your carbon removal activity must be located in the EU and fall within one of the three categories defined by the framework. Each category has different characteristics, timelines, and types of certified units.
Carbon farming
This category includes agricultural and forestry practices that increase carbon storage in soils or biomass, or reduce direct emissions from soil. It includes reforestation, agroforestry, improved grassland management, the use of cover crops, peatland restoration through rewetting, more efficient use of nitrogen fertilizers, and similar practices.
Carbon storage in products
This category covers projects that embed carbon in durable products, keeping it stored for extended periods (at least 35 years). The CRCF definition is broad and open to different solutions, but the EU legislator’s initial focus is on construction and “bio-based” materials derived from biomass. Plants absorb CO₂ as they grow through photosynthesis and store it in their structure: by transforming them into structural wood elements (glulam beams, structural panels) or natural insulation materials (wood fiber, cork, hemp, straw), the carbon remains stored within the material.
Permanent carbon removals
This category includes solutions that capture atmospheric or biogenic CO₂ and store it permanently for several centuries. The CRCF definition is intentionally open to include different technologies and approaches. It includes direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS), bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and biochar.
Unlike carbon farming and carbon storage in products—where the CO₂ is considered released at the end of the monitoring period—here the removal is considered permanent: the credits generated do not expire and remain valid indefinitely.
The four quality criteria: what your project will need to demonstrate
To generate certified units, your project will need to meet four quality criteria that ensure the environmental integrity of each credit.
Quantification
You will need to demonstrate precisely how much CO₂ your project removes. Quantification is based on a formula that measures additional removal compared to a reference scenario (baseline) and subtracts the emissions generated by implementing the project itself.
This means it is not enough to measure how much carbon you remove—you must also account for emissions associated with your activities. For example, if you implement a reforestation project, you must subtract emissions generated by soil preparation, seedling transport, machinery use, and so on. The final result is the net climate benefit your project actually delivers.
The certification methodologies specific to each project category will define in detail how to calculate these variables and how to monitor results.
Additionality
Your project must go beyond what the law already requires you to do. If an EU or national regulation already mandates that carbon removal practice, the activity will not be considered additional. For example, if the law requires you to reforest an area after logging, that project cannot be certified because you would have done it anyway to comply with regulation.
In addition, the project must need the economic incentive provided by certification to become financially viable. You may be asked to demonstrate that without revenue from selling carbon credits, upfront investment, operating costs, or payback periods would make the project financially unattractive. For example, converting conventional farmland into an agroforestry system requires high upfront costs (tree planting, new equipment, training) and years before generating meaningful revenues. Without carbon credit sales to offset these costs, many farmers would not make this choice.
Storage, monitoring, and liability
The carbon you remove must remain stored for a minimum period defined by the certification methodology applicable to your activity. You will need to implement a monitoring system to periodically verify that the carbon remains stored and to document any losses. You must be ready to manage reversals—situations where stored carbon is released back into the atmosphere before the required end date.
Sustainability
The project must not cause significant harm to the environment. For this reason, it must comply with minimum sustainability requirements specific to each type of removal activity. For example, projects that use biomass must ensure that the biomass meets the sustainability criteria of the Renewable Energy Directive.
Beyond the mandatory minimum requirements, the CRCF encourages the generation of co-benefits: environmental and social benefits that go beyond carbon removal. These benefits can fall into six areas: climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, protection of water and marine resources, transition to a circular economy, pollution prevention, and protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems.
For example, a regenerative agriculture project that reduces the use of chemical fertilizers can generate co-benefits on multiple fronts: it improves soil fertility (ecosystem protection) and reduces nutrient runoff into waterways (water protection).
How the quality criteria will be applied
The four quality criteria represent the overarching CRCF framework. Their concrete application—how to quantify removals and emissions, which practices are considered additional, how long monitoring must last—will be defined by certification methodologies specific to each type of activity.
The European Commission is currently developing these methodologies: the first one, dedicated to permanent carbon removals, is expected to be adopted in early 2026.
Kyklos Carbon: your partner for certification
The CRCF is redefining the standards of the European voluntary carbon market. Understanding the requirements and structuring your project correctly from the start is essential to access certification as soon as it becomes operational.
At Kyklos Carbon, we help project developers navigate the CRCF framework and we are building a platform that will simplify the entire process—from managing certification milestones to selling the credits generated through a dedicated marketplace.
If you are developing a carbon removal project and want to be among the first to test our platform, get in touch. Our platform is currently in development, and we are selecting the first testers who will help us refine it.
Carbon Removal Certification Framework: everything you need to know to certify your project