Impacts of EU and international law on the implementation of carbon capture and geological storage in the European Union

摘要

Many international, regional and EU legal frameworks are relevant to CCS activities. However, only a few of these frameworks explicitly address CCS activities. The clear inclusion or exclusion of CCS activities from the range of relevant legal frameworks will increase transparency, provide regulatory certainty, and facilitate those CCS activities and methodologies that are agreed to be consistent with international and EU law. The development of a framework to address CCS issues could take two basic forms: (1) a new stand-alone framework that addresses the unique aspects of CCS, created either outside or within an existing legal framework (for example, through a new treaty, or an Annex or Protocol to an existing treaty); or (2) the integration of CCS issues into existing regulatory frameworks though amendment of these frameworks, or through agreed interpretations, decisions or guidance documents. The adaptation of EU frameworks that are relevant to CCS may reflect a natural extension of these frameworks. However, for international and regional conventions, the amendment process may be time consuming and challenging, and depend upon the political dynamics of each process.