Assessing the Role of Carbon Capture and Geological Storage in the EU: Sustainability and Decision-Making Processes

Technologies for carbon capture and storage into geological formations (g-CCS) are used to capture and store carbon dioxide—and possibly other greenhouse gases (GHGs). These are increasingly presented by scientists, public decision-makers, and private economic actors as critical tools for mitigating climate change and avoiding associated environmental and social damages.

Typically, the European Union (EU) has been encouraging the development of such technologies through various mechanisms, such as the Directive 2009/31/EC or an incoming certification scheme. EU decision-makers are motivated to promote these technologies because they receive information from diverse stakeholders who argue that g-CCS will help achieve the EU’s climate targets.

EU decision-makers are expected, as public decision-makers, to prioritize sustainability goals when considering technologies such as g-CCS. This aligns with broader international commitments of the EU, such as its ratification of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (United Nations, 2015). Hence, we assume that EU decision-makers should consider these technologies by taking into account their overall impacts on sustainability goals in a comprehensive and accurate way. This includes considering many of their environmental and social impacts through complex assessments studying how carbon reacts with geological components, scaling-up of impacts, and comparison of these results with the ones of alternative options.

However, this comprehensive approach is not always implemented. EU decision-makers—or the stakeholders providing them with information—may focus selectively on certain aspects of g-CCS impacts while neglecting others. This selective focus can lead to biased decision-making. Such biases can result in many environmental and social impacts. In such contexts, affected parties may contest the validity of decisions and challenge the legitimacy of public decision-makers. For instance, many lawsuits arise in the United States and the United Kingdom and could emerge in the EU. 

In this presentation, I propose to examine the information EU decision-makers rely on when considering g-CCS, assess its relevance in light of the sustainability goals they are expected to pursue, and propose ways to improve the process, if necessary.