The 11th Clean Energy Ministerial meeting was held between 15-22 September 2020, hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The meeting’s focus was on "actions, not words", and on raising the levels of ambition for clean energy deployment, especially in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event was held virtually, with record-level participation of ministers from CEM Member Countries, both existing and new. The main Ministerial plenary of 22 September was preceded by a week of "pre-events" starting on 15 September, highlighting progress by all Clean Energy Ministerial work streams. All CEM works streams, including the CCUS Initiative, joined this massive gathering of policymakers, industry, the finance community and civil society. During the events, over 200 speakers and 10 000+ viewers came together to discuss clean energy deployment progress! Over a dozen Ministers and Heads of Delegation highlighted the role of CCUS in their country's clean energy suite, now and in the future.
Drafted in close consultation with various financial sector organisations, including multilateral development banks, commercial banks and other financial firms, the Initiative has launched the "Key Financing Principles for CCUS". The ten simple Principles outline key tasks and activities that need to be undertaken by industry, government and the financial sector, to help create the necessary business cases for CCUS projects. The Principles stress the fact that investing in CCUS is a "three-legged stool", requiring joint action from government, industry and the financial sector, each of which has a unique role to play. The Principles are meant to provide a framework that can be tailored to each country, also recognising the differences between developed countries and emerging economies.
The Key Financing Principles for CCUS were launched at a CEM-11 pre-event on Tuesday 15 September, with participation by energy ministers from Saudi Arabia and Norway, the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency and senior executives from World Bank, Société Générale, ING, Citi, as well as Oil and Gas Climate Initiative.
CCUS Initiative discussess progress and future plans
The CEM CCUS Initiative held its annual meeting on Monday-Tuesday 28-29 September. Discussions included a members' policy round-table, information sharing among key CCUS organisations (IEA, IEAGHG, CSLF and GCCSI), dialogue regarding future priority projects with OGCI, discussion on next steps with the finance work, as well as linking with key energy-intensive industries such as cement and steel.
The Initiative intends to keep providing a key platform that can bring together and facilitate the collaboration with government, industry and the financial sector.
Upcoming events
6 October, 10:00 - 16:45 JST: Japan - Asia CCUS Forum
Together with the Global CCS Institute, the CEM CCUS Initiative Member Japan will host the "Japan - ASIA CCUS Forum", on 6 October 2020. The forum will hear about Japan's current CCUS experience and future visions, and discuss the outlook for CCUS deployment in Japan and Asia.
15 October, 14:00 - 17:20 CET: CO2 Hubs, Clusters and Infrastructure
Our technical partners at the CSLF Technical Group will run a virtual workshop on CO2 hubs and joint infrastructure approaches, with speakers from both government and leading industries.
All CEM-11 sessions are now available for viewing on the CEM-11 Youtube channel.
The Government of Chile will host the 12th Clean Energy Ministerial in April 2021.