The World Carbon Capture & Climate Summit (WCCS) 2025, held on May 9 in New Delhi, served as a timely platform to reexamine the role of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies, with a particular focus on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), in addressing the world’s rapidly shrinking carbon budget.
In the theme address during the session “Carbon Tech: Redefining the Future of Sustainability,” Kishor Rajhansa emphasized that the world is at a pivotal moment—where mitigation is no longer optional but synonymous with planetary survival. With only ~500 gigatonnes of CO₂ left in the global carbon budget to stay within the 1.5°C threshold, carbon removal solutions, particularly CCS, must take center stage.
CCS: Strategic Response to Residual Emissions
Rajhansa underscored that while emissions reductions are advancing in areas like renewables, energy efficiency, and sustainable transport, oil, coal, and gas remain part of the global energy landscape. CCS, therefore, is not a luxury but a strategic necessity to deal with residual emissions, especially from hard-to-abate sectors like cement, steel, and fossil-based power.
However, CCS investments are typically made purely for environmental protection, with no inherent commercial return. In this context, carbon markets—both compliance and voluntary—are essential financial enablers. Yet, current market structures fall short in funding CCS projects at the scale needed. Developers must rely on a blend of carbon revenue and public support mechanisms such as subsidies and tax credits.
Establishing Integrity through Standards and Methodologies
For carbon markets to support CCS effectively, they must be grounded in robust methodologies and monitoring frameworks. Rajhansa highlighted that much progress has been made globally and regionally in:
- Accounting and quantification rules
- Third-party validation and verification systems
- Addressing reversal risks, leakage, and environmental and social safeguards
These frameworks are vital in ensuring the transparency and durability of carbon credits generated through CCS. Notably, because the CCS supply chain often crosses borders, mechanisms are needed to ensure that carbon revenues can flow across jurisdictions.
Article 6: Unlocking International Collaboration
The importance of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement was strongly emphasized. Rajhansa positioned it as a potential cornerstone of global carbon markets, enabling:
- Cross-border collaboration on carbon crediting (under Articles 6.2 and 6.4)
- Cost and risk sharing, especially for storage hubs and transport infrastructure
- Inclusion of countries with CO₂ capture capabilities but limited geological storage capacity
In this way, Article 6 can accelerate the development of shared CCS infrastructure, creating a more equitable and interconnected global mitigation effort. The good news is that India, like many other countries, has included CCS and CCUS in the positive list to issue the host country letter of authorization necessary to issue Article 6.2 eligible carbon credits.
Shifting Market Preferences and the Role of Removals
Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCMs) are increasingly favouring durable carbon removals like Direct Air Capture and Storage (DACS) and Biogenic Emission Capture and Storage (BECCS) over reduction-based solutions such as point-source CCS. Initiatives like SBTi, ICVCM, VCMI, and the Oxford Offsetting Principles reinforce this trend.
While these frameworks encourage high-durability offsets, Rajhansa cautioned that excluding CCS from fossil-based industrial facilities risks leaving gigatonnes of emissions unaddressed. If markets do not incentivize emission reductions from these sources, these facilities will continue to emit unabated throughout their operational lifetimes. Although the capex and opex of point-source-based CCS are more manageable as compared to DACS and BECCS, these projects remain eligible for “additionality” eligibility in most of the cases as long as there are no other revenues earned from such project activities.
Cross-Border Challenges and Incentives
Rajhansa pointed out that apart from cost challenges, with the rise of international CCS chains, new governance challenges emerge, such as responsibility for liability and harmonization of MRV, especially for cross-border projects. Despite the challenges, it is also noted that recent policy signals are helping CCS gain traction:
- The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) offers enhanced tax credits for CCS projects starting in 2026 through 2033
- Australia has committed AUD 550 million in CCS supply chain development through its federal budget
- The EU is coming forward to adopt CCS-based international credits in its offsetting journey
These moves demonstrate that national policy and carbon market incentives must work together to make CCS financially viable.
Rajhansa highlighted that the inclusion of CCS in NDCs is growing, particularly in power and industrial applications and carbon dioxide removal and low-carbon hydrogen. As of mid-2024, global CCS deployment included: 50 facilities in operation; 44 under construction; and a pipeline of 628 projects, reflecting a 57% year-on-year increase.
As baseload power demand increases, CCS offers dual benefits: enabling low-carbon dispatchable power; and delivering high-integrity, measurable carbon credits. Given that the power sector was responsible for 42% of global emissions in 2022, CCS is well-positioned to address one of the most critical sources of GHG emissions through carbon market instruments.
Development of a Comprehensive CCS Methodology
Rajhansa concluded by informing that Global Carbon Council’s approved baseline and monitoring methodology for project activities involving the capture, transport, and geological storage of carbon dioxide was developed over 2.5 years through extensive consultation. This methodology:
- Applies to point-source CCS, DACCS, and biogenic CO₂ capture
- Includes conservative assumptions and rigorous requirements
- Ensures high environmental integrity
- It is suitable for both greenfield and existing fossil-fuel-based facilities, subject to conditions
Several projects globally have already expressed interest in adopting this methodology—spanning sectors like blue ammonia, waste-to-energy, and natural gas production.
Read more about the Methodology: GCCMT001-Methodology-for-project-activities-involving-the-capture-transport-and-geological-storage-of-carbon-dioxide.pdf
Final Thoughts
Rajhansa’s remarks at WCCS 2025 offered both a detailed technical perspective and a strategic outlook on the future of CCS. CCS is no longer an optional mitigation pathway but a necessity, and markets, mechanisms, and governments must work in sync to unlock its full potential. With the world’s carbon budget shrinking rapidly, accelerating CCS deployment—grounded in transparency, equity, and scientific rigor—is one of the clearest paths forward.
