- Once recognised, the Puro.earth CRCF program will enable suppliers to issue credits under the EU Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation and buyers to procure them through Puro.earth’s existing infrastructure.
- Following the European Commission's public guidance webinar for certification scheme applicants, Puro.earth has submitted its application to become a recognised CRCF certification scheme.
Puro.earth, the world’s leading market infrastructure provider for engineered carbon dioxide removal (CDR), today announced the launch of its CRCF Program.
The launch marks Puro.earth's first formal step toward recognition as a certification scheme under the EU's Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation.
Following a webinar held by the European Commission on 1 June to provide an overview of the recognition process to certification schemes, Puro.earth has taken final guidance from the European Commission into account and reflected this in its CRCF Program, and submitted its application as a recognised certification scheme under the CRCF Regulation.
Once recognised, the Puro.earth CRCF Program will enable suppliers to issue CRCF credits, and buyers to procure them, through Puro.earth’s existing infrastructure.
As CDR scales, optionality matters
As the engineered CDR market grows, suppliers and buyers will increasingly need to operate across multiple frameworks - responding to different buyer requirements, regulatory developments, and project contexts.
Having access to the Puro Standard, the Puro.earth CRCF Program, and CCS+ credits through a single platform removes a significant source of friction: suppliers can issue credits across programs without managing numerous certification relationships, and buyers can procure across frameworks without navigating separate registries or processes. Puro.earth announced the integration of the CCS+ Initiative’s CDR methodology framework in October 2025.
Program optionality matters most as new participants enter the market. For a supplier bringing a first project to market, or a buyer making an initial CDR procurement, the ability to start within one program and expand into others as their needs develop - without switching platforms or rebuilding relationships - lowers the barrier to entry and supports long-term engagement with the market.
A multi-program approach
This announcement also marks the next step in Puro.earth’s evolution into a multi-program standard and registry. Three programs will operate in parallel through a single platform: the Puro Standard (issuing CORCs), the CRCF Program (issuing CRCF Certified Units), and the CCS+ Program (issuing CCS+ credits). The Puro Standard will continue to operate with its established global reach; the CRCF Program is EU-focused, consistent with the scope of the CRCF regulation.
By moving to this model now, Puro.earth is bringing the institutional-grade infrastructure the market will need as it matures - ensuring that as regulatory frameworks develop and voluntary demand grows, suppliers and buyers have a single, trusted home from which to access the full range of CDR pathways. Puro.earth is the only standard with the institutional weight, transactional ability and insolvency protection of a global exchange – Nasdaq – behind it, ensuring long-term market continuity.
The new Puro.earth CRCF Program is relevant for EU-based project developers working on biogenic emissions capture with carbon storage (bioCCS), direct air capture with carbon storage (DACCS), and biochar carbon removal - the three currently approved methodologies under the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/285. It is equally relevant for international companies with emissions in Europe, for whom CRCF-certified, locally-sourced credits are the most direct and credible way to address those emissions.
Buyers with compliance-forward procurement strategies will find the Program positions them ahead of potential EU ETS integration, and existing Puro.earth suppliers and buyers can expect continuity – with the new Program building on what is already in place.
The Puro Standard is the most widely adopted standard for engineered CDR in the voluntary carbon market. With 8 methodologies covering the full spectrum of engineered removal pathways - from biochar and BECCS to DACCS and geologically stored carbon - and more than 100 certified suppliers and 700 buyer organisations transacting on the registry, Puro.earth has built the deepest and most proven infrastructure in the CDR market.
The EU CRCF - a landmark moment for CDR
The EU CRCF Regulation is one of the most significant recent developments in carbon removal policy. By establishing a common quality standard for carbon removal credits across the EU, the regulation enables project scaling, reduces market fragmentation, and lays the groundwork for CRCF removal credits to be integrated into the EU Emissions Trading System.
Certification schemes recognised by the European Commission play a central role in verifying that project activities comply with the requirements set out in the CRCF Regulation.
Once recognised as certification schemes, independent certification bodies used by these schemes to assess projects and credits – also known as Validation and Verification Bodies – still need to be accredited before any CRCF-eligible credits are issued.
Bringing Puro.earth’s experience from voluntary markets to regulated frameworks
Puro.earth has been actively engaged with the European Commission throughout the CRCF consultation process, bringing its experience of building and operating standards for voluntary carbon markets to bear on the design of the regulated framework.
Puro.earth’s existing Standard is already substantially consistent with the requirements of CRCF. As part of the CRCF Program launch, Puro.earth has made two targeted amendments to the Puro Standard General Rules (v4.3) and its Geologically Stored Carbon methodology (ed. 2024 v.5) to meet CRCF requirements: the amortisation period for construction and embodied emissions, and the compensation instruments accepted in the event of re-emission from geological storage. These changes maintain optionality for project developers without introducing duplication or friction for shared storage reporting and accounting.
CRCF methodology governance sits with the European Commission, which develops and adopts the methodologies, at which point they are scrutinised by the European Parliament and Council of the EU. Once the Puro Program is recognised, Puro.earth’s role will be to operationalise them - providing the certification infrastructure, registry system interface, and the supplier and buyer support through which CRCF methodologies are applied in practice.
Jan-Willem Bode, President, Puro.earth, commented: “As CDR scales and becomes more widely adopted in Europe, buyers and suppliers need flexibility: the ability to operate across programs and jurisdictions without having to manage multiple platforms and relationships. This is why we are becoming multi-program in our approach, and the Puro.earth CRCF Program gives our market access to that optionality in a way that is practical and straightforward. We listened to our buyers and suppliers, and have delivered what they need as the CDR market continues to evolve around regulatory focus and the preferences of participants.”
Boris Lagadinov, Head of CRCF Program, Puro.earth added: “We thank the European Commission for its close guidance and support through the application process. It understands that scaling CDR to the volumes required demands well-functioning market infrastructure, and our experience of operating at scale in the voluntary market has been directly relevant to that conversation. This is exactly the kind of public-private engagement you would expect - and need - if CDR is going to deliver on its full potential in Europe and beyond.”
All documents related to the Puro.earth CRCF Program are available in the Puro.earth document library.
