Insights
What to check before you rely on biochar and pyrolysis removal credits at COP31
Biochar and other pyrolysis removal credits will be discussed widely at COP31. For corporates already buying removals, such as financial firms and airports, for airlines preparing for their scheme obligations and the agents who buy on their behalf, and for Gulf corporates attending COP31, the question is not whether these credits sound credible. It is whether you can defend each one to a board, an auditor or a journalist.
We advise on what to look for. This checklist sets out the questions we suggest you ask before you rely on any removal credit. It makes no claims of its own about how long carbon stays stored or what any credit achieves. Those answers have to come from the project documents and the public record.
Storage duration and who carries the risk
Every removal claim depends on how long the carbon stays out of the atmosphere. Ask the project side to show you, in writing:
- What storage duration does the methodology assume, and what evidence supports that assumption?
- What happens to the biochar after it is made? Where is it used, and who tracks it once it leaves the plant?
- What counts as a reversal under the methodology, and how would one be detected?
- If a reversal happens, who carries the risk? Is there a buffer, insurance or a replacement obligation, and is it written into your contract?
Our FAQ answer on permanence explains the buyer-side questions in more detail: What is permanence in carbon removal?.
Monitoring, reporting and verification
Monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) is how a project shows that what it claims actually happened. Weak MRV can be a reason a credit fails due diligence. Ask:
- What is measured, how often, and by whom? Are feedstock, production conditions and end use all covered?
- Is verification carried out by a third-party body accredited for this methodology?
- Are verification reports public, and do they cover the credits being offered to you?
- Is any verification late? A project marked as overdue is not necessarily a problem, but you should ask why the check is late and when it is expected. See our FAQ answer: What does 'verification overdue' mean for a buyer?
- Does the whole claim rest on one plant, one feedstock or one verifier? If so, ask what happens to your position if that single source has a problem.
We help you check the answers against the public record.
Avoiding double counting
A removal should be claimed once, by one party. Ask:
- Is each credit issued with a unique serial number on a public registry?
- Could the same removal also be claimed by the feedstock supplier, the biochar end user, or a host-country inventory? Is there a written statement that it is excluded elsewhere?
- Who is named as the beneficiary on the retirement record? The beneficiary is the party entitled to use the retirement in a claim, so make sure it is your organisation, or the airline you buy for. See our FAQ answer: What does the beneficiary on a retirement record mean?
- If you buy through an agent, do the contract and the retirement record both name the correct end user?
What a removal claim can and can't say
Even a well-documented credit only supports a narrow claim. Before anything goes into an annual report, a press release or a COP31 announcement, ask:
- Does the wording describe what was retired, for whom, and under which methodology, rather than making broad claims about your footprint?
- Is the credit used for residual emissions after real reductions, and does the claim say so?
- Have you avoided blanket terms such as "carbon neutral" or "net zero" unless a recognised standard supports them for your organisation?
- For airlines, has your compliance team confirmed separately whether a given unit can be used for your scheme obligations? A voluntary removal claim is not the same as a compliance unit.
- Has your legal team reviewed the claim against the advertising and green-claims rules in each market where it will appear?
Before you sign
Quality matters more than quantity. Not every project passes screening, and a clear "no" is often the most useful outcome of due diligence. We advise on the questions to ask, help you check the documents and records, and explain in plain terms what we found.
To read how pyrolysis and biochar processes work in general, see our technology page.