PDF version: CCS is now a CDM Project Activity  

Decision commented on: Decision -/CMP.7 Modalities and procedures for carbon dioxide capture and storage in geological formations as clean development mechanism project activities
- adopted in December 2011.

The 17th United Nations Climate Change Conference and the seventh meeting of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP) took place in Durban in November-December 2011 and brought hope again to the international community fighting climate change. The negotiations were reasonably successful and blended together the implementation of the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, the Bali Action Plan, and the Cancun Agreements, concluding with a decision adopted by Parties that a universal legal agreement on climate change is to be adopted as soon as possible, but no later than 2015.

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PDF version: A Step Forward for CCS as a CDM Project Activity

Report commented on: Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) Technical Workshop on the eligibility of carbon capture and storage projects under the clean development mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol, released on November 8th, 2011.

In December 2010, the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties (CMP) to the Kyoto Protocol (KP), by its decision 7/CMP.6, decided that carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) in geological formations would be eligible as a project activity under the clean development mechanism (CDM), provided that the following issues could be addressed and resolved in a satisfactory manner:

- non-permanence, including long-term permanence;
- measuring, reporting and verification;
- environmental impacts;
- project activity boundaries;
- international law;
- liability;
- the potential for perverse outcomes;
- safety ,and
- insurance coverage and compensation for damages caused due to seepage or leakage.

(See also Nigel Bankes’ blog on CCS and CDM: the eligibility of carbon capture and storage projects under the clean development mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol - the Cancun Meeting of the Conference of the Parties)

Parties and admitted observer organizations were invited to submit their views on how to address and manage these issues. Ten admitted observer organizations and Australia, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), the European Union, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and USA (as an observer state to KP) responded the invitation. Also, the Secretariat hosted a technical workshop with technical and legal experts to consider these submissions and to discuss the issues referred to in decision 7/CMP.6. The workshop, held in Abu Dhabi on September 7th and 8th 2011 clarified some of the technical and legal issues in its report and suggested possible solutions.

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