Carbon Capture and Storage and transboundary CO2 transport for permanent storage (London Protocol): Important diplomatic initiative to move forward.

There has been an important update on the issue of transboundary transport of CO2 for the purpose of permanent storage, as covered by the London Protocol's export amendment (2009 amendment to Art 6). This is of primarly importance for the realisation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects which include the international transport of CO2.

In short, an amendment to the 1996 London Protocol to the 1972 London Convention* has been adopted in 2006 (coming into force in 2007) in order to allow the storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the sub-seabed (inclusion of CO2 streams from CCS, subject to Three criteria). In 2009, a new amendment was adopted to allow the export of CO2 streams for permanent geological storage (disposal). However, the ratification threshold for the entry into force of the Amendment has not yet been reached (2/3 of the contracting parties to the Protocol), which hinders the completion of CCS Projects with a transboundary dimension.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) released a Working Paper in 2001, where it identifies six alternatives to the entry into force of the Amendment to the Protocol as a temporary solution.

A formal proposal from Norway and The Netherlands to use one of the alternatives identified by the IEA in 2011 is now on the agenda of the 2019 London Convention Meeting (scheduled 7-11 Oct. 2019). The alternative consists in a provisional application of the amendment between countries who decide to do so, in accordance with Art 25 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of the Treaties (VCLT).

See the summary note by the IEA-GHG programme available HERE.



* 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter and the 1996 Protocol to it (London Convention / London Protocol)