Environmental organisation warns following revelations: rather than solving the monitoring problem at home, the Netherlands is exporting it to Brussels.

THE HAGUE, 5 October 2026 – While police investigate possible criminal offences relating to RWE’s import of subsidised wood pellets, the Dutch government is backing a European proposal under which biomass combustion with CO₂ capture and storage (BECCS) could be rewarded as negative emissions. The European Commission is proposing to make an additional 250 million emission allowances available for this purpose. The Clean Air Committee is urgently calling on the Dutch government and the House of Representatives to change the Netherlands’ position. Parliament will discuss the proposal on Wednesday, 7 October, five days before the European Environment Council.

“It is almost impossible to explain. We still do not know with certainty what wood is being burned with billions of euros in subsidies. The police are investigating the biomass supply chain, we are challenging the minister’s decision not to enforce the rules, and we are preparing legal action against the Dutch State. Meanwhile, the government wants to reward this form of wood burning in Brussels as CO₂ removal. We risk turning an unresolved Dutch problem into a new European business model,” says Fenna Swart, director of The Clean Air Committee

From billions in subsidies to European emission allowances

The call follows revelations by NRC and Zembla on 10 September concerning the origin and certification of Malaysian wood pellets. The journalistic investigations built on years of research by The Clean Air Committee and Biofuelwatch. The organisations’ enforcement request led to an investigation by the Dutch Emissions Authority (NEa). Despite identifying vulnerabilities in the certification system, the minister decided not to take enforcement action.

Police are now investigating possible criminal offences relating to RWE’s import of Malaysian biomass. In addition, the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) has issued a preliminary decision to impose a fine because, according to the regulator, the legal origin of the imported biomass has not been sufficiently demonstrated. RWE maintains that its biomass complies with the applicable requirements and has been independently certified.

As existing subsidies for biomass combustion expire, new financial incentives for BECCS are being prepared in the Netherlands and across Europe. The Clean Air Committee warns that this could once again financially incentivise the same biomass supply chain without resolving the fundamental problems surrounding verification of the origin of the wood.

250 million additional emission allowances

The European Commission proposes auctioning 250 million additional emission allowances between 2031 and 2040. The proceeds would be used to purchase a corresponding amount of certified CO₂ removal. This would include BECCS and direct air carbon capture with permanent storage (DACCS).

The Dutch government has expressed support for the proposal. According to The Clean Air Committee, this presents a fundamental risk. The additional emissions space is justified on the assumption that an equivalent amount of CO₂ is actually removed from the atmosphere elsewhere. With BECCS, the organisation argues, that net removal cannot be taken for granted.

“An installation can measure precisely how much CO₂ is stored underground. But unless someone independently establishes how much carbon was previously lost from forests, you do not know how much CO₂ has actually been removed from the atmosphere,” says The Clean Air Committee.

The organisation points out that the impacts of logging, pellet processing and transport, as well as the energy consumption associated with CO₂ capture and storage, must also be taken into account. In addition, growing demand for wood could place further pressure on forests.

When the actual amount of CO₂ removed is smaller than the additional emissions space created on that basis, the climate objective is undermined.

International opposition to European biomass plans. On 23 September, The Clean Air Committee sent a strongly worded letter to Minister Van Veldhoven on behalf of 44 international environmental, nature and health organisations. They called for an end to the European preferential treatment of woody biomass, including the zero-rating of CO₂ emissions from biomass combustion. WWF also warned at the end of September against integrating CO₂ removal into the European emissions trading system. The organisation fears this could weaken the incentive to actually reduce fossil-fuel emissions. According to The Clean Air Committee, CO₂ removal should complement emissions reductions and must not become a justification for continuing fossil-fuel emissions. The same principle, the organisation argues, should apply to any future inclusion of biochar and other forms of carbon storage.

House of Representatives can still intervene this week

The Clean Air Committee is calling on the House of Representatives to require a change in the Netherlands’ position before the European Environment Council on 12 October. The organisation is calling for BECCS based on woody biomass to be excluded as a form of negative emissions under the EU ETS, and for no additional emission allowances to be issued on the basis of CO₂ removal that cannot be adequately verified. In addition, emissions reductions, natural carbon storage and technological CO₂ removal should be treated as separate objectives. Reducing the emissions cap, phasing out free emission allowances, and protecting and restoring forests must remain priorities.

“Parliament still has an opportunity to intervene this week. It must first be independently established that the entire biomass supply chain actually removes CO₂ from the atmosphere. We should not build a European market first and only discover afterwards that the promised climate benefits do not exist,” says Fenna Swart.

NOTE TO EDITORS

The Clean Air Committee has been investigating the impacts of woody biomass on climate, nature and health for eight years. Its investigation into Malaysian wood pellets, conducted together with Biofuelwatch, led to an enforcement request to the NEa, legal proceedings and a criminal complaint. The Clean Air Committee has also announced a civil lawsuit against the Dutch State concerning government oversight of and subsidies for woody biomass.

Sources and background information

  1. The Clean Air Committee and Biofuelwatch, 26 June 2025: Enforcement request concerning RWE.
  2. NEa investigation report on Malaysian wood pellets, January 2026.
  3. The Clean Air Committee, 14 September 2026: Announcement of legal action against the Dutch State.
  4. Zembla – Biomass from the Jungle, 10 September 2026.
  5. Zembla – Police and NVWA investigate RWE over Malaysian biomass, 10 September 2026.
  6. NRC, 10 September 2026: reconstruction of Dutch biomass oversight based on the Woo dossier requested and analysed by The Clean Air Committee
  7. Letter from The Clean Air Committee on behalf of 44 international organisations to Minister Van Veldhoven, 23 September 2026.
  8. European Commission proposal to revise the EU ETS, 17 July 2026.
  9. Dutch government position paper on the EU ETS revision, page 9.
  10. Dutch House of Representatives committee debate on the Environment Council, Wednesday, 7 October 2026.