On 22 September, President Xi proposed that “China will increase its intended nationally determined contribution, adopt more effective policies and measures, strive to peak its carbon dioxide emissions by the year of 2030, and endeavor to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060” at the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly. The fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee proposed to “accelerate the promotion of green and low-carbon development, continuously improve the environmental quality, enhance the quality and stability of the ecosystem, and comprehensively improve the efficiency of resource utilization”. Eco-friendly ways of work and life will be advanced to cover all areas of society. Carbon emission will steadily decline after reaching a peak, and there will be a fundamental improvement in the environment with the goal of building a Beautiful China basically reached.”

As a further respond to the national green and low-carbon development strategy, the conference of “2060 Carbon Neutrality: Opportunities and Challenges for Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage” was recently held in China University of Petroleum (Beijing). More than 200 representatives attended the conference including peoplefrom governmental institutions such as Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China, National Center for Climate Change, Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage Committee, universities, enterprises and research institutions such as CUP, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and engineering thermal physics, as well as some international institutions and energy enterprises, for example, Canada CCUS Knowledge Center, RITA, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), etc.

The conference report consists of four themes, including “China’s carbon neutrality target and CCUS strategy”, “China's CCUS development roadmap”, “CCUS development path of typical industries” and “current conditions and development trend of international CCUS”.Experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), North China Electric Power University, China Energy Group, CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage) International Knowledge Center in Canada, Earth Environment Industry Technology Institute (RITE) in Japan and other institutions made conference reports. The OGCI CCUS Commercialization White Paper (II) was presented at the conference by Prof. Peng Bo of CUPand Prof. Liang Xi of the University of Edinburgh. The white paper was commissioned by the Oil and Gas Climate Innovation (OGCI) and completed by CUP in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh. The white paper evaluated the importance of China’s role in CCUS in the context of current climate change and the development of oil and gas industry. The paper also analyzed the status quo and challenges of China’s CCUS, and put forward suggestions for following steps as well as a roadmap for China's CCUS commercialization. Previously, the OGCI CCUS Commercialization White Paper (I) had been completed by CUP.

Most representatives all agreed that China’s carbon reduction target in 2060 Carbon Neutrality Plan was much higher than that in Paris Agreement, which demanded more national determined contributions, so that CCUS as the technology of direct carbon reduction needed to be repositioned in terms of its effects and contributions. It shows China’s sense of responsibility as a major power of the world to dedicate in the harsh task of carbon reduction, although it is still at the time when its economy development cannot be decoupled from carbon emissions as a developing country. In the direction of 2060 carbon neutrality target, the energy structure mainly based on fossil energy will inevitably undergo revolutionary changes, and the energy companies dependent on fossil energy will be adjusted or replaced as a result. During such as a transformation of energy structure from fossil energy towards renewable and more efficient energy system, CCUS technology means more opportunities and challenges. Its development is in high accord with the green transformation of the oil and gas industry which is one of the core industries in the carbon reduction process. The oil and gas industry covers the whole chain of CCUS technology, and developing CCUS has technical foundation and industrial strength. Major oil and gas companies in China and the world should attach great importance to climate change. They can combine the characteristics of oil and gas industry and closely integrate with power, steel, cement, chemical industry and other industries to carry out green and low-carbon transformation and develop new industries.

CUP has a program covering the whole technology chain of carbon capture, utilization and storage, with long-term academic accumulation and systematic research results. Through this conference, CUP will more closely integrate the national green and low-carbon development strategy and the national CCUS development trend and requirements, further develop program characteristics, international influence and industry strength, accelerate CCUS scientific and technological innovation and personnel training, jointly promote China’s CCUS technological development, and make contributions to national sustainable development and Beautiful China Initiative.

The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), established at the 2014 UN climate summit, is a consortium that aims to accelerate the industry response to climate change. Its member companies include 13 largest oil enterprises from Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, Europe and North America, such as CNPC, BP, Saudi Aramco, Anglo Dutch Shell, etc., accounting for over 30% of global operated oil and gas production and nearly 20% of the global oil and gas consumption. At the 2017 summit, OGCI officially announced the establishment of the Climate Investments (CI), with its $1 billion fund for promoting the deployment of climate change technologies. CCUS is the key support area of OGCI to address climate change issues.