The phase-out of fossil fuels is the main item on the UN Climate Change Conference’s agenda in Dubai (COP28). Feeling the heat, the oil and gas sector and the governments that support it have dispatched at least 475 lobbyists with expertise in CCS to COP28 to push “carbon capture” as a misguided substitute for phasing out fossil fuels. Three days ago, the Kick Big Polluters Out Coalition revealed that a record 2,456 lobbyists for fossil fuel companies had gained access to this year’s climate talks. This analysis follows their report.

Norway has supported CCS for a very long time. In order to specifically promote CCS, the Norwegian government sent an official business delegation to the UN Climate Change Conference. This delegation included representatives from Equinor, Aker BP, and other oil and gas companies. According to publicly available data from Norway’s Oil and Energy Ministry for the years 2008 to 2020, as well as information from the government’s CCS webpage and the website of the CCS research program CLIMIT, $4.12 billion in public subsidies have already been awarded. This new analysis from OCI illustrates the outcomes of the CCS lobby in Norway. Given other public support for CCS that comes from budgets under other ministries, the actual number may be higher.

Norway has a sizable CCS budget, and it also has aggressive policies for oil production and exploration. Norway is the most active oil explorer in Europe, even in the weak Arctic ecosystems. Offshore carbon storage poses risks to delicate ecosystems, such as local acidification and leaks, according to recent analyses. Through 2050, more than half of the projected expansion from new fields will come from Norway and four other countries.

Despite numerous project failures, most notably the large-scale carbon capture project at Mongstad, Norwegian CCS subsidies are still in place. This project, which was once referred to as Norway’s “moon-landing” by Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, was a costly failure. Additional public funds were wasted when the Kårstø project failed. According to the IPCC’s comparison of various mitigation strategies, CCS is one of the most costly and ineffective ways to reduce emissions.

Snøhvit and Sleipner, two CCS projects that use Norwegian fields, are frequently cited as examples for other nations pursuing CCS. Recent research, however, indicates that these projects encountered unforeseen difficulties that raised their costs and put them at risk. According to Norway’s current plans, much larger projects that aim to store CO2 on an unprecedented scale from multiple sources are planned.

Senior Research Campaigner Aled Dilwyn Fisher of Oil Change International’s North Sea Campaign stated:

“CCS in Norway keeps returning to the top of the climate agenda despite repeated failures and enormous costs. The reason for this is simple – promoting CCS primarily benefits oil and gas interests, and distracts from criticism of Norwegian petroleum policy, which seeks to expand exploration and production in the middle of an ever-worsening climate emergency. The only technology that will efficiently reduce emissions is renewable energy, coupled with an equitable and managed phaseout of fossil fuels.

To be a climate leader, Norway’s just transition should prioritize a phaseout of all fossil fuels, and instead phase-in more renewable energy and energy efficiency. Global leaders must refuse any loopholes in the decisions made at COP28 in Dubai that would open for oil-producing countries like Norway or fossil fuel companies to justify continued oil and gas extraction with the use of ‘abatement’ technologies.”