Technologies seen as solution to rising levels of carbon dioxide

LONDON, UK— Energy and environment ministers from the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum’s (CSLF) member nations today endorsed carbon capture and storage technologies (CCS) as a key component of international plans to combat climate change. Their endorsement at a high-level meeting here is viewed as affirmation that carbon capture and storage must be an integral component of any international plan to combat climate change.

The ministers’ endorsement comes several weeks before international negotiators meet in Copenhagen to continue work on post 2012 commitments to the existing international agreement governing carbon emissions – the Kyoto Protocol – which expires in 2012.

In a Communiqué released following day-long discussions, CSLF member country Ministers and Heads of Delegation affirmed that CCS is “an important element of any effective response to climate change.”

The Ministers pointed out that 20 G-8 endorsed industrial-scale carbon capture and storage demonstration projects called for by 2010 are “vital,” but “many more” such projects will be needed in developed and developing countries by 2020 to help mitigate climate change.

CCS is a group of technologies for capturing carbon dioxide (CO₂), a major greenhouse gas, emitted by power plants or industrial facilities and safely injecting it deep underground into suitable, permanent geologic storage sites. It is increasingly viewed by international experts as an essential part of a portfolio of responses by the world to effective management and reduction of human-based CO₂ emissions.

In addition to calling for additional CCS projects on a global scale, the CSLF Ministers:

• Agreed the viability of CCS as a key mitigation strategy “should be appropriately recognized in international agreements, in particular, in the new agreements under the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change;”
• Encouraged the Major Economies Forum to “accelerate deployment of CCS globally and particularly in developing countries;”
• Emphasized that cooperation and knowledge-sharing on CCS “needs to be increased between developed and developing countries;” and,
• Announced initiation of a CSLF Capacity Building Program and increased efforts to “cooperate on capacity building with other multilateral institutions.”

The Communiqué noted the International Energy Agency (IEA) CCS Roadmap, launched today at the CSLF Ministerial Meeting in London, “suggests that many more CCS projects will be necessary by 2020, half of which need to be in non-OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries.” The organization endorsed the CSLF Strategic Plan, “which lays out a clear path” for international CCS collaboration based on CSLF and IEA recommendations made jointly to the G-8 at 2008 meetings in Japan, including: demonstrating CCS with at least 20 integrated industrial scale projects; taking concerted international action to accelerated wider CCS deployment; addressing the financial gap and risks facing early CCS projects; establishing CCS legal and regulatory frameworks; and raising awareness of CCS through public education.

The Ministers also called on delegates to the December 2009 UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen to “recognize the importance of CCS in mitigating climate change and in achieving the Convention’s ultimate objective of stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.” CCS, the Communiqué said, should be appropriately recognized in any mitigation and technology incentives that are part of any agreement under the UNFCCC in Copenhagen.

In addition, the Ministers endorsed the CSLF’s comprehensive Capacity Building Plan as a way to address the “critical need for the sharing of knowledge and experience on CCS, so that all CSLF members can develop capacity to effectively deploy” the technology. “Effective capacity building on such a scale requires the collaboration and commitment of diverse organizations,” the Communiqué said. “We therefore invite foundations, industry, multilateral institutions and other stakeholders to collaborate to support this important capacity building initiative.”

CSLF is a Ministerial-Level international climate change initiative marshalling worldwide resources to develop improved, cost-effective technologies for the separation, capture, transport, and long-term storage of CO₂ from power plants and industrial facilities. CSLF membership includes 23 developed and developing nations, including China and India, and the European Commission, united in seeking practical and constructive ways of dealing with concerns about CO₂ and climate change. CSLF member countries account for approximately 60% of the world's population -- 3.5 billion people; 76 percent of world man-made CO₂ emissions; 75 percent of world energy consumption; 70 percent of world energy production; and 76 percent of world GDP.

Forum membership spans the world's largest blocs of economic activity, including the North America Free Trade Area, the European Union and the leading economies of Asia. Members are Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, the European Commission, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.