Our views

aDryada’s position on the legal framework for the possible use of international carbon credits towards the 2040 EU Climate Law target

May 2026

As a company with a mission to restore Nature at a large-scale to high integrity standards, aDryada applauds the European Union’s 90% reduction by 2040 Climate Target. We also welcome the European Commission’s decision to introduce the flexibility mechanism of reaching up to 5% of the target with international credits, provided that they are of high integrity, since:

  • It can ease the cost of decarbonization on European industry, allowing them to remain competitive.
  • It will channel carbon financing to countries that need support reaching their climate targets, and thereby also strengthen alignment with the Paris Agreement targets.
  • Some carbon reduction/removal projects will have a larger comparative impact outside of Europe (e.g., restoring 200ha of tropical forest can have greater impact on climate mitigation than restoring 200ha of boreal forest in Europe).

aDryada is aware of the difficulty the EU faces in finding the equilibrium between integrating international carbon credits that are of high-integrity and thus have tangible impact, while remaining cost-effective enough so as to provide flexibility. aDryada holds that the 5% offset with international credits mechanism can best find an equilibrium between offering flexibility while supporting carbon projects with high impact if:

  • During both the pilot phase and the full implementation, only credits that abide by widely accepted international standards of high integrity should be eligible for offsetting, that is principally the ICVCM’s Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) and the IFC Performance Standards for social and environmental safeguards.
  • Starting in the pilot phase, a minimum share of the credits used should be removals starting in the pilot phase, with the share gradually increasing until only removal credits are eligible for offsetting.
  • If strict quality criteria are adopted, the EU should consider integrating the 5% offset in the EU ETS.
Download the position note