The Global South Carbon Dioxide Removal Coalition (GS CDR) has released a position paper calling on the European Union to officially recognize international carbon dioxide removals (CDR) under the EU Climate Law.
According to the GS CDR, this move would not only help the EU achieve its own climate targets on time, but it would also drive the global scaling of carbon removals.
The coalition clarifies that Global South CDRs do not aim to replace domestic EU action but are rather a complementary tool that has the power to deliver substantial results.
Comprised of active Global South CDR suppliers and navigated by a Steering Group of market experts, the GS CDR voices a unified position from trailblazers like Mati Carbon, InPlanet, Exomad Green, MASH Makes, Octavia Carbon, and others.
Through its position paper, the GS CDR coalition is expressing its readiness to deliver permanent, high-integrity carbon removals that could boost EU climate efforts if officially integrated into the Union’s Climate Law.
Although the Global South is home to 4x fewer CDR suppliers than the EU, in the period between 2022 and 2024 this region has delivered fourfold more carbon removals than its EU-based counterparts.
Generated through technologies like enhanced rock weathering (ERW), biochar, and direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS), Global South carbon removals are science-backed, verifiable, and in alignment with the EU’s MRV and CRCF requirements.
Relevant: Exomad Green Starts Work On The World’s Largest Biochar Facility
Beyond delivering CDR, many of the projects active in the Global South also support key Sustainable Development Goals, including climate action, zero hunger, and clean energy.
In an impact assessment, the EU has highlighted that reaching climate goals by 2050 will require 447 MtCO₂eq, while on a global level 7 to 9 GtCO₂ removals will be needed to limit planetary warming to 1.5°C. In this scenario, all removals, EU or international, are a valuable tool that can steer real progress.
By including international CDRs in EU climate law, the Union would fortify its partnership with a high-potential region like the Global South, boosting the confidence in these CDR credits under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement and stimulating more countries to adopt CRCF-style frameworks.
Read more: Octavia Carbon Unveils Project Hummingbird, Global South’s First DAC Plant
