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Energy Ministers from around the world have agreed to proposals to help speed up the global deployment of carbon capture and storage.

At a recent meeting in the United Arab Emirates, Ministers at the Clean Energy Ministerial endorsed recommendations from the Carbon Capture, Use and Storage (CCUS) Action Group chaired by Australia and the UK.

Speaking at the meeting in Abu Dhabi, the UK’s Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne said:

“There can be no solution to climate change and energy security globally without carbon capture and storage. Deployment of the technology is tantalisingly close, but it won’t happen at commercial scale without concerted efforts by governments around the world to address legal, financial and technical barriers.

“Our work with Australia to galvanise action and the commitments we’ve secured from key countries today are a step forward in this challenge. The UK will host the next Clean Energy Ministerial in London next spring and will be pressing hard for substantial progress by then.”

Australia’s Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson AM MP said:

“Australia is leading the CCUS Action Group with the United Kingdom to bring expertise together from across the world and to help governments and industry work together to advance CCS.

“I would like to thank the United Arab Emirates for hosting a highly successful Clean Energy Ministerial meeting over the past two days and I look forward to the next significant opportunity for governments to work together to build momentum for deploying CCS during the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum meeting to be held in Beijing later this year. ”

More detail about the Carbon Capture, Use and Storage Action Group is available at www.cleanenergyministerial.org/CCUS/index.html

The list of endorsed recommendations is attached.

Media contact: Australia - Fiona Scott +61 457 542 330
UK - Nick Turton +44 300 068 5224

CCUS Action Group recommendations

The endorsed CCUS Action Group recommendations call on Energy Ministers to:

• Advance policies that address the financial gap and risks associated with early-mover carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects;
• Identify and advance appropriate funding mechanisms to support the demonstration of large-scale CCS projects in developing economies;
• Advance the development of legal and regulatory frameworks for CCS;
• Promote the importance to global CCS deployment of ratifying key international marine treaty amendments;
• Support and encourage the development of best practice knowledge-sharing from early mover projects, in particular those with public funding;
• Review key gaps in storage data coverage and knowledge including capacity assessment; and
• Recognise the potential of CCS for industrial emission sources and review demonstration opportunities.

The following governments agreed to continue or initiate action in support of one or more of these recommendations by the next Clean Energy Ministerial: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Republic of Korea, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and the United Kingdom.

A number of actions have already been initiated in support of the CCUS Action Group’s recommendations. These include:

• The International Energy Agency (IEA), the Global CCS Institute (GCCSI) and the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF) will develop a work plan to support the implementation of recommendations and establish a progress reporting schedule;
• The GCCSI agreed to coordinate work on identifying a funding mechanism to support CCS projects in developing countries and will work in partnership with the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, the CSLF and the World Resources Institute;
• The GCCSI released a report on how the uptake of CCS can be accelerated through the re-use of captured carbon dioxide from industrial sources, available at www.globalccsinstitute.comExternal link; and
• The World Resources Institute released a report titled CCS Demonstrations in Developing Countries: Priorities for a Financing Mechanism for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage. The report is available at www.wri.org.External link

Clean Energy Ministerial

The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) brings together Ministers with responsibility for clean energy technologies from the world’s major economies. The Ministerial is a high-level global forum to share lessons and encourage the transition to a global clean energy future.

Member nations of the CEM collectively represent 80 per cent of the world's energy consumption and over 90 per cent of the world's clean energy investment. The CEM has 11 agreed initiatives to progress its work. The first CEM was held in Washington DC in July 2010. This week’s Ministerial in Abu Dhabi, UAE is the second CEM and the UK will host the third meeting in London in spring 2012.