“It is vital to move quickly from a world with tens of carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects to a world where hundreds of projects are deployed to achieve international climate goals,” the communiqué continues.

The CSLF Ministerial meeting was attended by energy ministers and stakeholders, including Bellona, from around the world and took place on October 12th-14th October in London.

The Communiqué calls on the UN climate summit in Copenhagen in December – the so-called COP15 – to recognise CCS as a "core mitigation technology" in the global race against climate change.

The Communiqué points to delays in the establishment of the legal and regulatory frameworks and financing mechanisms as a potential impediment to the successful completion of the first 20 CCS plants by 2015 – a goal previously agreed upon at the 2008 G8 Summit – and that of the 100th plant by 2020. The construction of at least 100 CCS plants is considered to be necessary for limiting global average temperature increases to less than 2⁰C in accordance with recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

“Achieving a new and more ambitious level of CCS deployment of 100 projects by 2020 would demand a significant scaling up of investment in CCS projects. To generate these financial flows governments need to develop the policy frameworks to enable CCS to become commercial. The financing requirements for the broader roll out of CCS projects will be distinct from what is required for the first demonstration projects,” reads the Communiqué.

“A CO₂ Emission Performance Standard or similar mechanism would give industry the regulatory certainty required to enable the required investment in CCS technology. It is part of the US climate bill, so why not introduce the same thing in the EU?’ Frederic Hauge, president of Bellona, asked.

Read the full Communiqué on the Carbon Capture and Storage Association (CCSA) online news service.