Supported by the municipality of Amsterdam and initiated by our colleagues at Copper8, we co-authored a whitepaper on carbon sequestration in construction materials for Dutch markets and policy makers.
Key insights include:
- When using carbon credits, the guiding principle at all times is that reduction comes before offsetting, use offsetting only for unavoidable CO2 emissions.
- CO2 offsetting comes in different forms, from CO2 reduction in other chains to permanent and temporary CO2 removal from the atmosphere. These different forms are explained in the table below.
- There is a distinction between the voluntary CO₂ market and mandatory CO₂ market. Only when CO₂ reduction, removal or sequestration does not take place in a regulated context (‘mandatory market’, such as the European ETS system), may certificates be issued and traded on the voluntary CO₂ market.
- The voluntary carbon market is not regulated by law. However, at the European level, the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) framework has been developed, on the basis of which carbon certificates can be issued.
- CO₂ sequestration in bio-based building materials is possible in wood as well as in fibre crops, with important differences in how storage is calculated.