INGENIEUR
The ASEAN diplomats also said they were in favour of the ratification of the climate agreement at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change COP-26 in Glasgow , UK .
Their statement goes on to note that ASEAN countries also recognise the importance of enhancing co-operation , such as capacity-building and climate finance by developed countries , for the implementation of the commitments under the Paris Agreement and the Glasgow Climate Pact .
ASEAN also looks forward to the global efforts to be determined at the UNFCCC ( COP-27 ), which will be held on November 6-18 , 2022 , in Sharm el-Sheikh , Egypt .
The ASEAN foreign ministers have plans to establish an ASEAN Centre for Climate Change ( ACCC ) in Brunei-Darussalam to increase climate change co-ordination and co-operation among the member states of ASEAN to increase resilience to climate change and reduce carbon emissions .
Separately , the Government of Cambodia said it was strongly committed to tackling climate change and environmental damage in the region and the world , despite the Kingdom having low greenhouse gas emissions both historically and presently .
Presiding over the opening of the 55 th AMM and related meetings in Phnom Penh on August 3 , Prime Minister Hun Sen urged the adoption of an ASEAN Green Deal aimed at pushing the ASEAN region to gradually move towards a green future with sustainable , efficient use of resources , resilience , renewable energy and increased economic competitiveness .
Carbon Capture should be a bridge to Net Zero , not a get-out-of-jail-free card ( Source : Upstream )
The still uncharted course of the nascent carbon capture and storage industry is drawing flak on the grounds that it could prolong the world ’ s addiction to hydrocarbons , but carbon capture storage ( CCS ) has a role to play in the energy transition .
As developed economies including the US and the UK move to establish a legislative framework to support development of CCS , the stated objective of reducing emissions from industrial operations looks like a clear winner .
A growing number of oil majors have announced CCS investments and ventures , while Governments in western countries are increasingly throwing their support behind carbon capture .
But questions abound over the efficacy of CCS in helping to move the needle towards net zero , and the Biden initiative spurred a heated debate about the credibility of such technologies . Critics see carbon capture as the latest trick for a polluting oil and gas sector to keep doing what it has been doing while avoiding the kind of overhaul of the business model that would speed up decarbonisation .
Much of the uncertainty has to do with the embryonic state of affairs for CCS today : an anxious general public reads about huge growth plans , multiple technologies and billions of dollars in public support , but only a handful of active projects offer insight into what this all means .
Proponents will tell you that organisations such as the International Energy Agency ( IEA ) have included carbon capture , utilisation and storage as part of the technology mix in a sustainable development and net-zero scenario .
Last year , the IEA stressed that it “ has consistently highlighted the important role of CCS in achieving net-zero emissions ” and the agency ’ s net-zero pathway suggests installed capacity should surge to 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2030 , compared with 40 million tonnes at present .
The IEA clearly states that CCS should be reserved for sectors where emissions are difficult to abate , such as steelmaking , cement and chemicals .
By 2050 , fossil fuels are targeted to account for one-fifth of total energy supply compared with four-fifths today , so the vast majority of today ’ s hydrocarbon production would not exist . The small share of remaining active facilities would employ CCS to limit their emissions — as per IEA guidelines .
From this perspective , CCS doesn ’ t look like an all-you-can-eat deal for oil and gas companies . Rather , it would be a viable approach used only under specific circumstances for a minority of fossil fuel assets .
In short , CCS should be a bridge to net zero , not a get-out-of jail card for fossil fuels .
78 VOL 91 JULY-SEPTEMBER 2022