Regulatory Landscape
Corporate Compliance Insight
The regulatory landscape refers to a network of laws, regulations, and policies that govern businesses and organisations within a defined industry or geographical region. These involve international regulations, directives and treaties, as well as national legislation. In addition to these, governmental policies and strategies, financial reporting standards and industry specific praxis further affect the way in which a business can operate.
1415 uses a strategic and structured approach to the regulatory landscape, which involves proactively managing the continous impact of regulations on businesses, ensuring compliance and minimising risks. This includes having an understanding of the various regulatory frameworks, continuously analysing their scope and impact, as well as being actively involved in their development-phases through participating in stakeholder meetings, workshops for experts and topic-related conferences.
1415 have been actively involved in the development of the Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming Certification Framework CRCF, in particular the certification and registry processes, and going forward, the specific methodologies, as well as financing discussions, on invite from the European Commission.
1415 have also been invited by government authorities to assist in the development of the National plan under the Nature Restoration Regulation. We are accordingly currently in close dialogue with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, The Swedish Forest Agency, The Swedish Board of Agriculture and Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management, on the details and machinations of the plan, which will be completed by mid 2026.
The regulatory (legal) landscape constitutes a core pillar for working with nature restoration projects, and for operating on the biodiversity and CO2 (CDR) markets today. Accordingly, 1415 adopts a proactive approach to not only ensure that all rules and regulations are adhered to, but also to utilise and find synergies between the frameworks, policies and strategies, as a map and compass for positive action through project-design and implementation.
The Legal Landscape – Terrestrial Focus
The Legal Landscape – Aquatic Focus
The Aquatic regulatory environment – a holistic framework
Marine waters
The Marine Strategy Directive (MFSD) is the EU’s main tool for protecting and conserving the health of our coasts, seas and ocean. This involves achieving productive and resilient marine ecosystems while securing a more sustainable use of marine resources.
The MFSD aligns with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) through the shared objectives, and is designed to contribute to the goals of the Green Deal, in particular the EU Biodiversity Strategy (2030) and Zero Pollution Action Plan.
Pursuant to this Directive, EU Member States must develop national marine strategies in order to achieve a ‘Good Environmental Status’. For this to be assessed, Annex I sets out 11 qualitative descriptors:
- Descriptor 1: Biodiversity is maintained
- Descriptor 2: Non-indigenous species do not adversely alter ecosystems
- Descriptor 3: Populations of commercial fish and shellfish species are healthy
- Descriptor 4: Food webs ensure long-term abundance and reproduction of species
- Descriptor 5: Eutrophication is reduced
- Descriptor 6: Sea floor integrity ensures the proper functioning of ecosystems
- Descriptor 7: Permanent alteration of hydrographical conditions does not adversely affect ecosystems
- Descriptor 8: Concentrations of contaminants give no pollution effects
- Descriptor 9: Contaminants in seafood are at safe levels
- Descriptor 10: Marine litter does not cause harm
- Descriptor 11: Introduction of energy (including underwater noise) does not adversely affect the ecosystem
Surface and Groundwaters
Among the key legislation and policies directly relevant to the MFSD is the Water Framework Directive. This Directive provides the main foundation for water policy in Europe, setting rules that protect water resources, fresh and saltwater ecosystems, and ensure our drinking and bathing water is clean. It also sets the goal of achieving Good Status for all EU surface and groundwaters, tying in with the goal of Good Environmental Status under the Marine Directive.
In 2025 the EU launched the 2025 European Water Resilience Strategy, which aims to combat water scarcity, improve water management, expand clean water access, drive innovation, and restore the broken water cycle. This is meant to protect communities and biodiversity, as well as strengthen the EU’s economy.
(For more information see https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/water_en)
Ultimately it is about sustaining our quality of life: food security, water and nature.
1415 implement projects that deliver on the EU Water Resilience Strategy, UN & EU Biodiversity Strategies
The European Union member states agreed on the new regulatory
Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF) in 2024
This new regulatory framework seeks to address a previous lack of standards and rules necessary for the creation of a voluntary market for carbon credits of high integrity, attractive to willing investors. In summary it addresses: Quantification, Monitoring, Reporting & Verification (MRV), Methodologies, Baseline calculations, Additionality of activities and core Principles to follow. Carbon removals fit under this framework if they result in an unambiguous positive climate impact, while avoiding greenwashing.
All 1415 projects use and follow the CRCF, developed by the European Union.
This new framework constitutes the most robust and consistent certification system globally to date, acheiving a level of quality and standard previously unseen.
The following text is a summary of certain key parts of the CRCF regulation and that are most relevant for the projects implemented by 1415.
In the Preamble (‘Preamble’ means everything between the title and the enacting terms of the act) there are a number of useful recitals which give the reasons for the regulation itself, its objectives, and helpful descriptions of how the law is meant to be interpreted. (See box 1)
The Enacting terms (‘Enacting Terms’ means the legislative part of the act). (See box 2)
Box 1
Preamble summary
(4) The CRCF will support the development of carbon farming activities that result in an unambiguous positive climate impact, while avoiding greenwashing. In the case of carbon farming, it is clear that activities will be prioritised that generate co-benefits for biodiversity, contributing to achieving the nature restoration targets set out in EU law.
(11) To fit under the regulation, activities should become financially viable due to the incentive effect provided by the certification. Such effect is present when the incentive created by the potential revenues, resulting from the certification, changes the behaviour of operators in such a way that they engage in the additional activity.
(15) Carbon removal and carbon farming activities have a strong potential to deliver win-win solutions for sustainability, even if trade-offs cannot be excluded. Therefore, minimum sustainability requirements should ensure that activities do not lead to significant harm, whilst generating co-benefits for climate change mitigation and adaptation, as well as the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems.
Carbon farming activities should at least generate co-benefits for the objective of protection and restoration of biodiversity and eco-systems, including soil health as well avoidance of land degradation.
When developing certification methodologies in the context of carbon farming, the Commission should take into account the need to contribute to ensuring food security and promote the protection and the restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems. It should promote those activities that have the largest potential to provide positive co-benefits for biodiversity, as well as consider the long-term forest structure, long-term stability of carbon pools, ecosystem health, resilience and risk of natural disturbances.
(17) Co-benefits for biodiversity going beyond the minimum sustainability requirements, with a view to generate a premium for the certified units, could include positive lists of activities that are deemed to generate co-benefits. These additional co-benefits would give more economic value to the certified units and would result in higher revenues for operators. The Commission should prioritise the development of tailored certification methodologies on carbon farming activities that provide significant co-benefits for biodiversity and contribute to sustainable management of agricultural land and forests.
(18a) Given the need to rapidly scale up carbon removals in the Union, the Commission should at the first stage of the development of certification methodologies prioritise activities that are the most mature, that can provide sustainability co-benefits, and carbon farming activities that contribute to sustainable management of agricultural land, forests, and the marine environment.
Box 2
Summary Enacting terms
Chapter 1:
Article 1 (1) sets out the objective, being to facilitate and encourage carbon- removals, -farming and -storage in products, laying down Quality criteria and rules for verification, certification and use of units (carbon credits).
In Article 1(2) we find the overarching aim of reaching climate neutrality by 2050.
Article 2 gives all the definitions, defining a unit as one metric tonne of CO2 equivalent of net carbon removal benefit generated by the activity.
Article 3 provides two conditions for eligibility; generating an activity that complies with all quality criteria (as per Article 4), and that further has to be independently verified.
Chapter 2: | Quality Criteria
Article 4 stipulates that all removals and associated GHG emissions must be Quantified in a relevant, conservative, accurate, complete, consistent, comparable and transparent manner, in accordance with the latest available scientific evidence.
Monitoring must be based on on-site measurements with remote sensing or modelling (as per each certification methodology).
Baselines must be highly representative of the standard performance of comparable practices and processes regarding social, economic, environmental, technological, regulatory circumstances, and geographical context – ‘standardised baselines.’ (With some derogation, methodology-allowing, baseline then becoming ‘activity-specific’).
Article 5 provides that for the requisite Additionality, an activity must (a) go beyond EU and national laws, for an individual operator; and (b) the certification must constitute the incentive for the activity to become financially viable.
Article 6 sets out rules for storage, monitoring and liability.
Article 7 addresses Sustainability and the generation of co-benefits, and that a carbon farming activity must generate such co-benefits for the protection of restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems, including soil health and avoidance of land degradation.
Appropriate certification methodologies shall incentivise as much as possible the generation of co-benefits going beyond the minimum sustainability requirements, in particular for the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems.
The minimum sustainability criteria include obligations to ‘do no significant harm’, and to promote the sustainability of forest and agriculture biomass raw material in line with the Renewable Energy Directives.
Pursuant to Article 8, the Commission has the obligation to prioritise the development of certification methodologies for those activities that are the most mature, that have the potential to provide the largest co-benefits.
For carbon farming, activities that contribute to the sustainable management of agricultural land, forests and the marine environment are also to be prioritised.
This article 8 further highlights the promotion and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems, the promotion of sustainable use of biomass and food security, as well as buffers or insurance mechanisms, in the certification methodologies.
Chapters 3 and 4:
Articles 9 to 14 describe the operative rules for bodies and schemes, as well as processes for certification and registries (please see explanatory flow Chart).
Chapter 5 and Annexes:
Articles 15-19 finally sets out exceptions, and parameters for review, followed by the Annexes, setting out the finer details of some Articles.
Certification under the CRCF
CRCF – Overview of verification process
Working Paper on: Verification rules under the CRCF Regulation.
CRCF Verification Technical Assistance (VERTA project)
Service request 2023/07, Framework reference: CLIMA.A4/FRA/2019/0011
The European Commission - 'Roadmap towards Nature Credits
This July 2025, the European Commission launched a ‘Roadmap towards Nature Credits’. This is a welcomed new inclusion of incentives for private investments into actions that protect and preserve nature, whilst rewarding those who undertake these actions and invest in them.
Nature credits represent an investment into nature-positive actions and are issued via a 2-step-process: The nature-positive action is first certified, and a certificate issued, providing assurance that the measure upholds certain standards, through specific high-quality and pre-defined criteria having been met. The certificate thus demonstrates environmental integrity. Following this, verified Nature credits are issued, based on the certificate and the results. These can then be banked, pooled and traded.
By enabling actors and stakeholders to demonstrate their nature-positive action, a shift from merely limiting damage to actively reversing the alarming trend of nature-loss can be achieved. Companies that adopt such nature-positive strategies benefit from increased investor confidence, better financial conditions and greater long-term resilience. (World Economic Forum)
Carbon credits and Nature credits
Carbon and Nature credits are complementary but distinct tools. Carbon credits focus primarily on carbon sequestration and reducing emissions (with in some cases biodiversity as a co-benefit), while Nature credits focus on activities that protect and restore biodiversity and ecosystems.
Nature Restoration Regulation
A new Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR) came into force in August 2024. It sets binding targets to restore degraded ecosystems, in particular those with the most potential to capture and store carbon and to prevent and reduce the impact of natural disasters. The way in which countries will work towards the targets is through the creation of National nature restoration plans, wherein specific measures will be agreed upon, suited best to each locality.
The Swedish Nature Restoration Plan under development
1415 have been invited to contribute to the development of the Swedish Nature Restoration Plan, in relation to forests, the agricultural landscape, coastal and marine landscape, and financing options, such as Environmental Attribute Certificates (Nature credits).
1415 participate actively in the dialogue Expert Groups
Working with synergies
Restoration targets and obligations for habitats and species should be complementary and work in synergy, with a view to achieving the overarching objective of restoring ecosystems across nations.
The restoration measures required to meet one specific target will, in many cases, contribute to meeting other targets or fulfilling other obligations. We should therefore plan restoration measures strategically with a view to maximising their effectiveness in contributing to the recovery of nature on a large scale.
1415 has as its core MO modus operandum to identify and align targets with synergies running through the regulatory landscape, and are proud to announce our invitations from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency to assist the working groups creating the National plan under the EU Nature Restoration Regulation, to be submitted to the European Commission by mid 2026.
