In order to reach the goal of not increasing the global average temperature by 2 degrees – as set by UN Heads of State in Copenhagen in 2009, we need to cut emissions by 8-9 billion tons by 2050, said Stern. “In that scenario, with CCS necessary to ensure 17 percent of those global emissions reductions, we need to build three thousand full scale CCS facilities in the world from today until 2050.”

Lord Stern emphasized that the industry and power sectors need to start investing in CCS with a view to getting the price of capturing and safely storing a ton of C0₂ down to 50$ within a decade. Reaching the necessary scale means that approximately one trillion US dollars will be invested in CCS technologies from today until 2050.

New sources of gas mean that the world will be stuck with fossil fuels for a long time – in which case CCS is crucial in order to meet the climate goals.