CCC/179 ISBN 978-92-9029-495-5

January 2011

copyright © IEA Clean Coal Centre

Abstract

In 1998, a colleague introduced a paper on greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction with a famous Mark

Twain quote: ‘Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.’ Humour aside,

the colleague’s point was to highlight the considerable body of work under way to develop

technologies to address the climate change impacts of GHG emissions. One option is carbon capture

and storage (CCS), a technology that has been in the making for over 50 years. Thousands of

scientists, engineers, and policymakers throughout the world are not only talking about CCS, but also

diligently pursuing the technical know-how and legal and regulatory frameworks needed to deploy

CCS as a climate change solution. CCS has many passionate supporters, some equally passionate

detractors, and some who view it as a technology that must be tolerated to bridge the gap to fossil-free

energy. This is a progress report on CCS readiness throughout the world with regard to the legal and

regulatory framework development that is critical to CCS deployment.