By Chris Stockburger

In December 2024, the United Kingdom and Norway launched a Green Industrial Partnership to collaborate across a range of sectors, including carbon capture and storage (CCS). The announcement highlighted the opportunities for both nations to develop cross-border carbon capture projects in the North Sea, as well as the future potential of collaboration in the region. This presents an opportunity for other North Sea countries for further collaboration. These include other leaders in CCS, such as Denmark and the Netherlands, as well as countries seeking to ramp up their CCS efforts, including Germany and France. To unlock the region's full potential, a regional cooperative framework should be agreed upon by the North Sea countries.

The North Sea region stands to be a leader in CCS due to its natural storage potential as well as the advanced projects being developed in the area. Regarding storage, researchers estimate that the North Sea could hold approximately 100 billion tons of captured CO2 in the sandstone layers deep under the sea floor. Furthermore, due to the North Sea’s natural potential, it could serve as a hub for the European Union's decarbonization plans, as the EU aims to remove 400 million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere by 2040. In addition to the region's natural storage potential, some of the world's most advanced and innovative CCS projects are already in development or operational in the North Sea region. These include Porthos, a Dutch project to transport and inject captured carbon into depleted oil fields in the North Sea, expected to be operational in 2026, and Northern Lights, a Norwegian project launched in 2024 to transport captured CO2 from around Europe and inject it permanently under the North Sea.

While there is widespread momentum among countries in the North Sea region to invest in CCS technology, the region currently lacks a cohesive approach, with a patchwork of bilateral deals, goals, and national policies. Outside of the previously mentioned Green Industrial Partnership between the UK and Norway, the current political climate features a broad mix of various Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between various countries. The UK, for example, has signed MoUs with Denmark and the Netherlands, while Norway has signed MoUs with Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden. While these MoUs signal commitments to advancing CCS in the region, this patchwork of agreements excludes key regional partners, such as Germany and France, that are vital to advancing CCS in the North Sea region.

A North Sea regional framework on CCS is not hard to imagine; there are already existing regional frameworks in the region tackling other pressing climate and energy issues. The North Seas Energy Cooperation (NSEC) is a European Commission regional non-binding cooperation framework that aims to advance the development of offshore renewable energy in the North Sea. Seven countries are members of the NSEC, with the UK having an MoU with NSEC since its withdrawal from the EU. A CCS framework could operate under a similar structure to the NSEC, or even as an extension of it, aiming to connect a series of principles and agreements laid out in the various MoUs and bilateral agreements created by the North Sea countries. 

Creating the framework would cause three key benefits to the region. First, by having all North Sea countries as members of the framework, they could streamline licensing, environmental, and safety guidelines between member states. While some countries have begun to implement this approach - such as the five-country agreement on carbon transport between Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, and Sweden - the creation of a regional framework would apply these guidelines and best practices to the entire region. Second, by establishing a regional CCS framework, member countries can provide political stability and encourage new investment in the region. The NSEC has been making progress towards similar goals in the realm of renewable energy for investors, which has created progress in bringing new projects and investment to the North Sea. Finally, agreeing to the framework increases Europe’s ability to meet its CO2 emissions goals by accelerating CCS projects and efforts in one of the most vital regions both in Europe and globally. 

A North Sea CCS framework would transform fragmented ambition into unified action by allowing the region to fully harness its geological potential, technological innovation, and existing infrastructure. By aligning and streamlining regulations, policies, and goals throughout the entire North Sea, member states can create a stable environment for investors and accelerate decarbonization progress. Regional cooperation would not only cement the North Sea’s role in Europe’s decarbonization plans, it would also increase the likelihood of Europe achieving its ambitious yet critical goals. If such a framework is implemented, it would serve as a model of CCS cooperation that the world urgently needs. To achieve these benefits, however, North Sea countries must put pen to paper and agree to cooperate as a region to advance CCS to the next level.