INSIGHT by Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)
Offshore Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is no solution to fossil fuel pollution, according to a new report from the Center for International Environmental Law.
Deep Trouble: The Risks of Offshore Carbon Capture and Storage lays out the threats posed by fossil fuel industry plans to store carbon dioxide beneath the ocean floor.
The report examines the new push to massively scale up offshore CCS by pooling CO₂ waste in shared storage “hubs” in the world’s oceans. This untested approach presents uncalculated risks and unprecedented monitoring challenges.
Exposing how offshore CCS entrenches reliance on fossil fuels and puts coastal communities and overtaxed marine environments at greater risk, the report serves as a stark wake-up call to the global community, on the eve of the annual UN climate talks, COP28, taking place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
A unique public database covering 62 offshore CCS projects globally, including in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Norway, and the UAE, complements the report.
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CIEL’s analysis of proposed projects found that many are being used to justify the expansion of new fossil fuels, rather than curbing existing emissions.
CIEL recommends halting the rush to develop offshore CO₂ storage hubs and strengthening regulatory regimes at the domestic and international levels to prevent harm from offshore CCS.
“The fossil fuel industry has a long history of turning waste streams into profit streams, and the push to build out massive CO₂ dumping grounds under the ocean floor is just the latest example. Proposed offshore CCS ‘hubs’ are enabling big polluters to amplify the myth that we don’t need to phase out fossil fuels, we can just ‘manage’ their emissions. But CCS’s track record is riddled with failures and warning signs about the technology’s feasibility and safety. And a rapidly warming climate is not the only problem: fossil fuels also damage ecosystems, acidify the oceans, drive millions of deaths per year, pollute our water, and destabilize our economies. CCS is a false promise that only helps to keep fossil fuel facilities running and oil and gas fields pumping. The last thing we should do is trust the same industry that has pushed the world’s oceans and climate to the brink to bring us back from it. We need real climate action, not misguided attempts to sweep pollution under the seabed. It’s time to safeguard our oceans and accelerate the transition to a fossil-free future. Offshore CCS does neither.”
-Nikki Reisch, CIEL’s Climate and Energy Program Director
“The United States is the epicenter of the global push for CCS, with a long history of using captured carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery and extraordinary subsidies for carbon capture. As the oil and gas industry turns to the seas as a destination for their carbon pollution and a source of ever more government largesse, the Gulf of Mexico is a major target, threatening the ecosystems and communities within and around it and the climate as a whole. The accelerating efforts to build ever more dangerous, unnecessary, and expensive infrastructure offshore should be abandoned, and subsidies for CCS should be eliminated.”
-Steven Feit, CIEL’s Senior Attorney & Legal and Research Manager
| All opinions expressed are those of the author and/or quoted sources. investESG.eu is an independent and neutral platform dedicated to generating debate around ESG investing topics.
