The EU and Norway invite to an international conference on CO2 cleansing

Brussels, Belgium.Oil and Energy Minister Kjell-Børge Freiberg (FRP) held a bilateral meeting on Tuesday morning with EU climate commissioner Miguel Arias Canete in Brussels.Photo: Kristian Nicolai Stakset-Gundersen / Norges delegasjon til EU / NTB scanpix

EU Climate Director Miguel Arias Cañete says that he has taken the initiative to host a large international conference in Norway in September on the capture and storage of CO2.

  • Catching and storing of CO2 is essential if we are to achieve climate neutrality. We cannot reach the goals of the Paris agreement without this, says Cañete to NTB.

He had an hour-long bilateral meeting with Norway’s Minister of Oil and Energy, Kjell-Børge Freiberg (FRP) on Tuesday. There capture and storage of CO2, so-called CCS, was a main theme.

Freiberg is pleased with the initiative Cañete has now taken for a CCS summit in Norway.

  • Such a conference allows us to jointly identify remaining obstacles, he says.

Freiberg is of the opinion that EU aid is crucial if we are to succeed with CCS here in Norway. The goal is to put in place a cooperation between several European countries, with financial support from the EU’s new investment fund for climate measures.

This fund should be ready to start distributing money by 2020, Cañete says. He believes the EU has a duty to finance CCS.

  • It will be a substantial fund. So the money is going to be there, he assures everyone, though without mentioning the Norwegian project directly.

From the Norwegian side, an investment decision is expected in 2020 or 2021.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today