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.
- Who runs it
- European Commission
- What it costs
- Nothing
- Deadline to join
- None
- First purchases
- Target December 2026
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 Commission's stated 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. Which one you can actually buy from today is the difference that matters.
Permanent removals
DACCS, BioCCS and biochar. Their CRCF methodologies have been in force since 7 May 2026, so this is the track the 2026 pilot buys from. It aims at long-term or multi-year offtakes for a few large projects, to take them to Final Investment Decision.
Carbon farming
Mineral soils, peatland rewetting and afforestation. The methodologies were adopted on 10 July 2026 but are not in force: scrutiny by Parliament and Council and publication in the Official Journal come first. The Commission expected this in Q3 2026, and it has not happened.
Who can take part
On the demand side, any organisation interested in purchasing CRCF units can register its interest: companies, financial investors and public authorities. On the supply side, projects must use an approved CRCF methodology, with a strong preference for projects that receive public funding from the European Commission or EU Member States.
Where it stands
- Nov 2025 AnnouncedIn the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, to create predictable demand and stimulate private investment.
- May 2026 First details at the CRCF DaysPlatform page and the EU survey to register buyer interest go live.
- 10 Sep 2026 First public webinarThe Commission put a number on the pilot: purchases from two to five projects this year, all of them permanent removals certified under CRCF.
- Dec 2026 Target for the first purchasesThis depends on a certification scheme being recognised first, and none is yet. Without a recognised scheme no CRCF unit can exist, so the date carries real risk.
- Q1 2027 Working sessions on both tracksOpen to buyers in the working group. Dates not yet announced, see our events page.
A possible name change to watch. At the Carbon Removal Policy Summit on 16 September 2026, the Club was referred to as the future EU Buyers Coalition. The Commission's own page still calls it the EU CRCF Buyers' Club, so nothing has changed officially. We will use both names here if and when it does. Source: Carbon Gap, 30 September 2026, a secondary source.
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 [email protected], and the Commission publishes a Buyers' Club bulletin on its own page. Club dates are on our events page too.
Is it your route in?
The Club is one way to secure future CRCF supply, alongside buying directly from developers or through private coalitions and registries. It costs nothing to register, so the question is whether it fits what you need.
| If you | Then |
|---|---|
| Want permanent removals from Europe, from 2027 on | Register. This is what the pilot buys. |
| Want afforestation or soil carbon | Not in 2026. The methodologies are not in force, so the Club cannot buy them yet. |
| Need tonnes delivered this year | No route here, and none under the CRCF at all. Nothing is certified yet. |
| Want to understand the rules before you commit | Register anyway. Membership is free, has no deadline and carries no purchase obligation. |
The first CRCF-certified units are expected in 2027, because a scheme has to be recognised and a re-certification audit completed before any unit exists.
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.
Who is building the supply
The Club's first purchases are permanent removals. Our directory lists the European developers working on them, each with its CRCF status and a piece of evidence that does not come from the developer: biochar, BECCS and direct air capture. For the carbon farming track, see forestry and soil carbon and peatland.
Our reading, not a sourced statement: demand is still thin, and we read that as rational waiting rather than a lack of interest. Buyers are holding until it is clear how CRCF units count toward SBTi and CSRD. Whether that changes depends on the two things below, and neither is decided.
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). Commission page last updated 29 July 2026, checked again on 21 October 2026. The carbon farming methodologies were still not in force on that date.