MEP Kelly appointed Rapporteur for Sustainable Carbon Cycles Opinion

Seán Kelly, MEP for Ireland South, has been appointed Rapporteur for the Sustainable Carbon Cycles Opinion in the European Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee.

The European Commission last year presented its proposals for sustainable carbon cycles, setting out a plan of action for the development of sustainable solutions for carbon removals. Such actions will, however, require specific support for carbon capture, utilisation and storage over the coming years.

“In order to meet our ambitious climate targets, it is crucial that significant steps are taken over the course of the next decade to facilitate the required decarbonisation. That said, carbon removals must take place in such a way as to ensure that industry does not suffer unnecessarily as a result,” MEP Kelly stated.

“Under the European Green Deal, the European Union has set a target of becoming climate neutral by 2050. This can only be achieved through ambitious and innovative policies; however, it is critical that such policies are not detrimental to industry.”

“It is vital that the Commission puts together a pathway to carbon removal with sufficient monitoring, reporting and verification requirements, with the flexibility to accommodate new technologies as they become available. The deployment of such technologies should be facilitated through a system of prioritisation. There are different circumstances in each Member State in this area, both in terms of industrial complexion and their corresponding carbon removal capacity and soil and vegetation quality for natural carbon removals. The goal is clear, but to achieve it we must allow the required flexibility to Member States so that the most applicable solutions can be found. There is also of course a cross border element to this, particularly in the area of storage infrastructure for the carbon captured, so we must make sure from an EU level we have the correct regulatory framework in place”, Kelly continued.

“In the short term, it is vital that the Commission sets out actions that can be taken immediately to upscale carbon farming, for example, by including the ‘blue carbon’ business model in its proposals, which would increase carbon sequestration from coastal ecosystems, contributing to the sustainable capture, recycling, transport and storage of carbon. We cannot reach our climate goals without ambitious and forward thinking actions from Industry now,” Kelly concluded.