The EU Buyers' Club, explained.
An independent, plain-language explainer of the EU's market platform for carbon removals and carbon farming. We are not part of it. We help you understand and use it.
What it is
The EU Buyers' Club is a voluntary market platform for CRCF units, a marketplace that brings together buyers and sellers. It is a hybrid public-private partnership: the European Commission provides the infrastructure, while the members drive the deals and the market uptake. The aim is to aggregate corporate demand, de-risk investment and bring the first certified European removals to market.
Two tracks
The Club works along two tracks, mirroring the CRCF framework. The permanent-removals track is more advanced; the carbon-farming track follows once its methodologies are in force.
- Permanent removals (more advanced): DACCS, BioCCS and biochar, with approved CRCF methodologies in force since 2026.
- Carbon farming: mineral soils, peatland rewetting and afforestation. The methodologies were adopted on 10 July 2026 and enter into force once scrutiny and publication in the Official Journal are complete.
Who can take part
Projects must use approved CRCF methodologies, with a strong preference for projects that receive public funding from the European Commission and EU Member States. On the demand side, any organisation interested in purchasing CRCF units can register its interest.
Where it stands
The official platform is now live. The European Commission has published the Buyers' Club page and opened a dedicated EU survey to register buyer interest. The Club aims to make an initial set of purchases of permanent removals by December 2026 and to bring selected projects to Final Investment Decision. The first public webinar was held on 10 September 2026. The Commission put a number on the pilot there: the goal for this year is to make and announce purchases from two to five projects, all of them permanent removals certified under CRCF. That target depends on a certification scheme being recognised first, and none is yet.
How to join
Organisations that buy, or expect to buy, CRCF units can register their interest directly with the Commission through the dedicated EU survey. The Commission encourages interested buyers to get in touch as early as possible.
Open the EU Buyers' Club survey →
There is no deadline. Buyers can also join the working group by writing to clima-carbon-removals@ec.europa.eu, and the Commission publishes a Buyers' Club bulletin on its own page. Club dates are on our events page too.
What it means for you as a buyer
The Club is one route to securing future CRCF supply, alongside buying directly from developers or through private coalitions and registries. Its value is predictable demand: by signalling interest early, buyers help unlock the investment that brings the first certified European removals to market. The first CRCF-certified units are expected from the end of 2026.
What buyers asked for is not what the pilot buys. In the Commission's own survey of 56 respondents, the most wanted activities were biochar with 43 mentions and afforestation with 37, ahead of BioCCS with 34 and DACCS with 30. Biochar is already in force as a permanent removal, so it can be bought. Afforestation cannot: it sits under carbon farming, whose methodologies were only adopted in July 2026 and are not yet in force. So the second most requested activity is outside this year's pilot entirely. If afforestation is what you want, the Club is not your route in 2026.
Demand is still thin, but we read that as rational waiting, not a lack of interest. Buyers are holding until it is clear how CRCF units count toward SBTi and CSRD, and it shifts once compliance pull arrives.
A second source of structural demand may be forming. In July 2026 the Commission proposed integrating permanent removals into the EU ETS: 250 million allowances auctioned over 2031 to 2040, with the revenue centrally buying CRCF-certified BioCCS and DACCS. If adopted, it would make the EU itself a large buyer alongside the Club, and mark the clearest shift from a voluntary CRCF market toward compliance-linked demand. It is still only a proposal, in Parliament and Council negotiations expected to conclude around Q1 2027. We track it on the updates.
How CRCFProjects helps
We are independent and not affiliated with the European Commission or the Buyers' Club. We track the framework in plain language, and our directory shows European developers and where each one stands on CRCF eligibility, so you can find the projects that could qualify. For the regulatory milestones, see the updates.
Beyond information: a network of European CRCF buyers
The official Buyers' Club coordinates demand. It does not give buyers a way to learn from each other: how others read the SBTi rules, handle CSRD, set budgets, and choose between methods and projects. That is the gap we want to fill, as an independent and neutral place. Not a marketplace, not a sales channel.
We are forming a curated, access-controlled circle of European CRCF buyers. The idea is simple: a short profile per person, who they are and why the Buyers' Club matters to them, visible only to other verified buyers. Low effort, you add a profile and see who else is there. Online roundtables would follow once there is enough interest.
If you buy, or expect to buy, carbon removals at a company, register your interest with your work email. This is separate from the newsletter, and nothing is public.
Sources: European Commission, DG CLIMA, EU CRCF Buyers' Club and Europe lays the foundations for a robust carbon removals and carbon farming market (29 May 2026). Checked against the Commission's page of 29 July 2026 on 4 October 2026.