CCUS

Carbon Capture Storage and Use (CCS-U) and CDRs provide climate change mitigation solutions by capturing CO2 from the emitting sources or the atmosphere, and storing it underground or re-using it. In this sense, CCS-U and CDR technologies can play two main roles in achieving net zero targets, namely, reducing emissions or removing CO2 from the atmosphere.

The IPPC scenarios consistent with limiting the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees show that capturing CO2 is essential and complements the implementation of emissions reduction policies. There is also a growing consensus around the fact that capturing CO2 will play an increasingly important role in the face of achieving the EU’s long-term emission reduction targets.

This workstream aims to help shape the EU regulatory framework for this
technology by:

• Carefully assessing the role of CCS-U and CDRs in achieving the EU’s long-term climate and energy targets.
• Assessing CCS-U and CDRs interaction with the EU-ETS as an instrument to provide flexibility for installations to comply with their ETS obligations, including its future role in the EU ETS and the role of negative emissions in the EU’s climate policy framework.
• Identifying possible regulatory and financing gaps hindering the deployment of this technology at scale.
• Actively contributing to the Commission’s working groups on CCS-U and CDRs as well as in the CCUS Forum, with a focus on the issue of public perception of these technologies.
• Following international negotiations related to CCS-U and CDRs, such as COPs and other international fora.