The first CRCF certified carbon credits will not reach corporate buyers until late 2027 or early 2028. That is the practical timeline behind Regulation (EU) 2024/3012, the EU's new Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming framework. For sustainability and procurement leads already buying carbon removals or planning to scale up, the decisions that matter happen now, not when the first units appear on registries.
This guide sets out what the CRCF actually certifies, when CRCF-certified credits will be available, what they will cost, and what to do with your existing carbon removal portfolio in the meantime. It is written for corporate buyers in EU markets who already understand the difference between Verra, Gold Standard, Puro.earth, and ICVCM CCP labels, and want to know how CRCF changes their procurement strategy.
Direct answer. CRCF certified carbon credits are carbon removal units issued under Regulation (EU) 2024/3012, the EU's first government-backed quality standard for carbon removals and carbon farming. They are certified against the CRCF's QU.A.L.ITY criteria (Quantification, Additionality, Long-term storage, Sustainability) and fall into three durability tiers: permanent removals (centuries of storage, including DACCS, BECCS, and biochar), carbon farming (minimum 5 years), and carbon storage in products (minimum 35 years). First certifications are expected from early 2027, with credits reaching corporate buyers from late 2027 or 2028. The decisions that matter in 2026 are which existing removal credits to lock in at pre-premium pricing, how to structure offtake agreements that can later re-certify under CRCF, and which projects to prioritise based on CRCF eligibility.
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What CRCF actually certifies
The CRCF is a voluntary, EU-wide certification framework set up by Regulation (EU) 2024/3012. It does not replace existing standards like Verra, Gold Standard, or Puro.earth. It runs alongside them and sets a harmonised EU quality baseline that existing standards can be recognised against.
The framework certifies three categories of climate activity:
Permanent carbon removals. Activities that extract CO₂ from the atmosphere and store it for several centuries. The first adopted methodologies cover Direct Air Capture and Storage (DACCS), Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS), and biochar.
Carbon farming. Land management practices that sequester carbon in soils and vegetation, with a minimum permanence of 5 years. Covers peatland rewetting, agroforestry, reforestation, and similar nature-based pathways.
Carbon storage in products. Long-lasting carbon storage in bio-based materials, with a minimum permanence of 35 years.
Every certified unit must meet the four QU.A.L.ITY criteria:
Quantification. Conservative, robust measurement of net removal benefit, with rigorous baseline rules.
Additionality. The activity must go beyond statutory requirements and standard practice.
Long-term storage. Specific durability requirements per category, with reversal risk management.
Sustainability. Co-benefits across biodiversity, soil, water, and circular economy, plus minimum do-no-harm criteria.
Certification is delivered by third-party certification bodies accredited by the European Commission. Issued certificates are tracked in EU-recognised public registries with full traceability.
When CRCF certified carbon credits will actually be available
CRCF certified carbon credits will arrive in three phases.
Late 2025 to early 2026. The European Commission adopts delegated acts for the first methodologies (DACCS, BECCS, biochar). Carbon farming methodologies follow later in 2026 and into 2027.
Mid-to-late 2026. Recognition decisions for existing voluntary standards (Verra, Gold Standard, Puro.earth, others) are expected. Recognised standards can then issue CRCF-aligned credits without buyers having to switch suppliers. By 31 July 2026, the European Commission must also assess how permanent removals can be integrated into the EU ETS, potentially from 2030 onwards.
Early to late 2027. First projects begin formal CRCF certification audits. The first CRCF certificates reach registries in late 2027 or early 2028.
For corporate buyers, the relevant question in 2026 has shifted. Direct purchase of a CRCF certified credit is not possible yet. What matters now is which removal credits to buy today that will either re-certify under CRCF later or sit alongside CRCF credits in a defensible long-term portfolio.
Why CRCF certified credits will command a premium
CRCF certification adds three layers of cost compared to existing voluntary certification: stricter monitoring, reporting, and verification requirements; mandatory third-party verification by EU-accredited bodies; and ongoing public registry maintenance with longer-term liability tracking. Project developers pursuing CRCF certification face higher up-front and ongoing costs, and those costs pass through to buyers.
Three structural factors push CRCF prices higher than equivalent VCM credits.
Government backing. CRCF is the first government-backed quality label for voluntary credits. Buyers are expected to pay a premium for the additional integrity assurance.
Potential ETS eligibility. If the European Commission integrates permanent CRCF removals into the EU ETS from 2030, that creates a compliance-driven floor on price. EU ETS allowances are projected to average €91 to €93 per tonne in 2026 and climb toward €130 by 2030.
Supply constraints in the early years. First-movers will absorb most of the early CRCF supply. Buyers without forward contracts in 2026 risk paying significantly more later, or being unable to secure CRCF-certified volume at all in 2027 and 2028.
Current market prices give a useful reference point. South American industrial biochar trades at roughly €142 to €190 today under Verra and Puro certification. German biochar runs €189 to €200. CRCF certification on top of these credits is likely to add a premium in the €20 to €50 per tonne range, depending on how broad early supply turns out to be.
What corporate buyers should be doing in 2026
A practical action set for procurement and sustainability teams, ordered by impact.
1. Audit your current carbon removal portfolio against CRCF eligibility. Map every existing credit and forward contract to the three CRCF tiers (permanent, carbon farming, product storage). Flag credits that are unlikely to meet CRCF criteria (older nature-based credits with weak additionality, weak baselines, or insufficient durability), and credits that should re-certify cleanly when their underlying standards gain CRCF recognition.
2. Lock in forward contracts on CRCF-eligible methodologies at today's pricing. Biochar, DACCS, and BECCS projects already certified under Verra, Puro.earth, or Isometric are the highest-probability re-certification candidates. Forward contracts signed in 2026 at current pricing offer protection against the CRCF premium that will arrive in 2027 and 2028.
3. Update your carbon credit procurement policy. Specify minimum durability per use case. Permanent removals for SBTi V2.0 residual-emission neutralisation. Carbon farming or temporary removals for VCMI claims or beyond-value-chain mitigation (BVCM). Specify CRCF-eligible or CRCF-recognised standards as the default selection criteria. Document the policy so finance, procurement, and CSRD assurance teams reference the same rules.
4. Align your CSRD/ESRS E1-7 disclosures with CRCF terminology now. ESRS E1 already requires companies to disclose removal volumes, methodologies, permanence, and additionality assessments. CRCF terminology will become the EU reference vocabulary. Using it in your 2026 disclosures puts you ahead of the rapid alignment that auditors will expect in 2027.
5. Build supplier relationships with developers pursuing CRCF certification. Early supply will go to buyers with existing relationships and offtake commitments. Late buyers in 2027 will face thin supply at premium prices.
At Regreener, we source carbon removal credits for corporate buyers across Europe with one eye on today's quality standards and one on the CRCF criteria expected to apply from 2027. Our five-domain quality framework (Carbon Integrity, Measurement and Verification, Beyond Carbon, Developer and Governance, Market and Regulatory Integrity) already incorporates the QU.A.L.ITY criteria, so credits sourced through Regreener in 2026 sit closest to CRCF eligibility when re-certification opens.
