Carbon capture and sequestration, it is a fraud. It's an absolute fraud. And they know it's a fraud.
Sir Keir Starmer was one of a few global leaders at COP29 the climate summit in Baku and announced the UK's ambitious u-turn to take action on climate change - but there is a critical flaw in Starmer's £22 billion plan.
Commentators at COP29 have noted, not only Prime Minister Keir Starmer's presence at this climate summit but also the early announcement on the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). The NDC outlines what the UK's contribution is going to be to reduce its carbon emissions inline with the Paris Agreement.
Starmer said: "I don't want to be in the middle of the pack. I want to get ahead of the game, whether that's with carbon capture in Teesside and Merseyside, where last month, I announced funding for carbon capture, utilisation and storage projects that will create 4000 new jobs using the skills of oil and gas communities as we accelerate towards net zero."
Passion
The £22bn ($27.7bn USD) earmarked for carbon capture and storage has drawn widespread criticism from scientists in the UK as the technology has never lived up to the promises made by the fossil fuel industry.
One key criticism is that this technology is used by the fossil fuel industry to prolong the use of dirty energy like gas and oil, with a vague future aim of capturing the emissions at the time of emssion.
Al Gore, the former US vice-president spoke with great passion at a meeting during COP29 in the petrostate of Azerbaijan, stating: "Carbon capture and sequestration, it is a fraud. It's an absolute fraud. And they know it's a fraud, but they continue putting it out there.
"And with some of the right wing media and some of the outlets that will do whatever the fossil fuel industry wants them to do.
Restore
"They try to continue fooling people into thinking that's going to be the solution to it. It's not, of course, and we have to penetrate that veil of illusion and have policies that are based on the truth of our situation."
Another criticism is that there is no certainty around how long the carbon is stored for once it is removed during the process. This means that carbon escape back into the atmosphere adding further to a hotter atmosphere.
To date the deployment of carbon capture and storage technology has been so limited that it is inconsequential in the fight against climate change.
It is strongly argued that the £22bn could be put to much better use across the UK in helping to restore carbon sinks and establish a wider take up of renewable energy.
This Author
Nick Breeze is the author of ‘COPOUT - How governments have failed the people on climate’ published by Ad Lib Books, 2024, and also the host of the ClimateGenn podcast. He was reporting for The Ecologist from COP29.
