Characterising emissions, matching removals and mapping EU policies
A new paper from Carbon Gap explores biogenic emissions and the Like-for-Like principle for achieving durable net-zero.
A new paper from Carbon Gap explores biogenic emissions.
Reaching net-zero emissions worldwide will require removing as much greenhouse gas from the atmosphere as we emit, but ensuring net-zero is sustained will require matching the right emissions with the right removals. This scientifically established concept, known as the Like-for-Like (LfL) principle is crucial for achieving durable net-zero. In simple terms, the LfL principle outlines that permanent carbon removal methods, such as capturing and storing CO₂ underground, should be used to balance out fossil fuel emissions. Meanwhile, temporary carbon storage in soils, forests, or wood products should help balance out biogenic emissions. These biogenic emissions are part of the short-term carbon cycle and come from the burning or breakdown of recently living material.
Putting the LfL principle into practice faces some barriers. Because today the largest portion of emissions by far are fossil fuels, there is some concern from Nature Based Solution operators that if regulations follow the LfL principle, it could mean less demand and business for the temporary (biogenic) removals these operators provide. To answer this question, we analysed the sources, compositions, and volumes of global biogenic emissions.
Our analysis shows that farming, waste, and ecosystem change are the biggest sources of biogenic emissions today — emitting more than nine times what temporary removals are currently storing. Despite their prevalence, the current EU policy frameworks in place do not adequately target biogenic emissions either through targeted reduction measures or by appropriately counterbalancing them with removals. Many of these biogenic emissions will be hard to get rid of going forward, meaning temporary removals will play a vital role in balancing the books, and must be adequately addressed in the EU policy mix. Policies like the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR), Land Use, Land Use and Forestry (LULUCF) Regulation, Common Agriculture Practice (CAP), and the new Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation should work together to give temporary removals a clear, fair place in the path to net-zero.