The 6th Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF) Ministerial Meeting opened yesterday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  

The event, which is being co-chaired by the United States and Saudi Arabia, kicked off with various policy and technical meetings with representatives from more than 20 countries.  It will culminate on Wednesday with a day-long conference of energy ministers, including Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.

The CSLF is a Minister-level international climate change initiative focused on developing and deploying carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies globally. CCS is the process of capturing and storing or re-using carbon dioxide from fossil energy and industrial sources.  The role of CCS in addressing climate change is recognized under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.  There are currently more than 20 large CCS projects in operation or under construction around the world.

This year’s Ministerial meeting is particularly important because it provides a platform for top-level dialogue on the role of CCS technologies ahead of next month’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris.  The dialogue in Riyadh will focus on the need to:

  • Create and harness geographic areas, or “sweet spots,” conducive to CCS project development, such as the Middle East;
  • Work toward comprehensive CCS policy frameworks that will support CCS technology globally;
  • Foster international collaboration to advance CCS deployment;
  • Pursue industrial CCS applications; and
  • De-risk carbon storage through early stage exploration, hubs, and clusters.

Launched in 2003 and currently comprised of 23 members – including 22 countries and the European Commission – the CSLF is the world’s only Minister-level multinational forum for CCS.