The Strategy sets out a number of options to deliver long-term emissions reductions, including options to achieve the Paris Agreement goal of 1.5°C (net-zero emissions).
Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Graeme Sweeney, Chairman of ZEP, said, "We are delighted to see that the Commission has recognised the importance of CCS – a critical technology for delivering net-zero emissions across industry, heat and power. Indeed, all scenarios in the Strategy include CCS, and those that achieve the Paris Agreement 1.5°C goal, rely heavily on CCS – in particular to enable deep decarbonisation across industry and to unlock negative emissions. This is consistent with the recent IPCC report on delivering 1.5°C, which concludes that industry will be unable to achieve the Paris Agreement goal without CCS."
"Whilst today’s Strategy and ambition are a welcome and important step towards meeting Europe’s contribution to the Paris Agreement, it is now vital that this ambition is translated into reality – particularly as we transition to a new Commission next year."
"To enable CCS to fulfil its role in delivering this long-term Strategy, action must begin now. Support mechanisms such as the Innovation Fund, Connecting Europe Facility and InvestEU programme, will all be critical for delivering the first EU CCS clusters. It is therefore extremely important that these mechanisms are consistent and appropriately designed to support CCS, particularly to enable the development of CO2 transport and storage infrastructure, which will provide the backbone for low-carbon industrial hubs across Europe”.