Position paper – No shortcuts for carbon storage in products
Our latest position paper critically assesses the risks and opportunities for managing carbon emissions and storing carbon in construction timber and concrete. Before storage-based incentives, we recommend EU policymakers focus existing policies on defining and incentivising sustainable timber and low-carbon cement and concrete through circular and sustainable sourcing measures, effectively achieving the same environmental goal without venturing into tricky accounting.
There are various risks of greenwashing from overlooking concrete manufacturing emissions, the complex monitoring and liability system for temporary carbon storage, and intergenerational equity concerns from future emission reversals. The safest approach is not to venture into a complex, EU-wide carbon storage-based incentive mechanism for products but to instead focus on emissions reduction and provide a holistic framework to achieve sustainability goals for these materials. If carbon storage-based certification is still pursued for products, these goals must also apply and be mandatory to achieve in conjunction with storage to obtain certification.
Learn more: No shortcuts for carbon storage in products
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