Strategic leadership of the Zero Emissions Platform (ZEP)

The urgency to decarbonise the global economy is increasingly upon us. Limiting long-term temperature increases to 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels was agreed upon by 196 countries in the Paris Agreement in 2015, a target strongly supported by world-leading organisations such as the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), organisations which widely recognise that CCS deployment at gigatonne scale is vital for a just and sustainable transition to net-zero emissions. CO2 capture, transport, and storage (CCS) describes the process of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from point sources such as power plants or industrial sites, transporting it by ships, trucks or pipelines to a storage site, and injecting it in deep underground geological formations to permanently prevent it from reaching the atmosphere. The latest IEA Roadmap to Net Zero report estimates that CCUS will account for 8% of emissions reductions, an estimated total of 6 billion tonnes (Gt) per year by 2050. The Zero Emissions Platform (ZEP) is the trusted advisor to the European Union on industrial carbon management and seeks to accelerate its deployment in line with Europe’s climate ambition. SINTEF and Bellona have long-established strategic leadership roles in ZEP which they seek to strengthen in MVO ZEP to: (i) ensure the relevance and effectiveness of CCS technology development in Europe, (ii) maximise value-added of established roles as Vice & Co-Chairs in ZEP by ensuring the strategic leadership necessary to coordinate and advance research interests, needs and priorities, (iii) increasing Norwegian industry participation in ZEP to ensure the involvement of Norway in the implementation and deployment of CCS, and (iv) boosting knowledge sharing and ensure the realisation of major Norwegian CCS investments.

The purpose of MVO ZEP is to support Norwegian actors, SINTEF and Bellona, in their leading roles in The Zero Emissions Platform (ZEP) to optimise value creation from Norwegian CCS investments and contribute to the accelerated commercialisation of CCS in Europe, while following the European development of CCU. The project is to be carried out by the Bellona Environmental Foundation, Norway and Bellona Europa together with SINTEF. SINTEF and Bellona have long-established strategic leadership roles in ZEP which they seek to strengthen to optimise value creation from Norwegian CCS investments and contribute to the accelerated commercialisation of CCS in Europe, with the purpose of: (i) ensure the relevance and effectiveness of CCS technology development in Europe according to the SET plan, (ii) maximise value-added of established roles as Vice & Co-Chairs in ZEP by ensuring the strategic leadership necessary to coordinate and advance research interests, needs and priorities, (iii) increase Norwegian industry participation in ZEP to ensure the involvement of Norway in the implementation and deployment of CCS, and (iv) boost knowledge sharing and ensure the realisation of major Norwegian CCS investments.