Morning, Tuesday, 18th November 2025
Online
This conference will examine the future direction of carbon capture, utilisation and storage policy in the UK, with a focus on delivery timelines, market models, and the role of CCUS in industrial decarbonisation, regional development, and long-term net zero strategy. The agenda looks at key issues on both demand-side and supply-side.
It will bring key stakeholders and policymakers together to discuss immediate priorities following the confirmation of Track-1 funding in the 2025 Spending Review, and ahead of key decisions on Track-2 cluster sequencing expected later this year. We expect discussion to reflect targets, investment and wider plans for development outlined in the Industrial Strategy and the Infrastructure Strategy,
Delegates will assess practicalities and coordination challenges for delivering the next phase of deployment. Discussion will also focus on approaches to managing risk and securing investment for shared, open access transport and storage infrastructure.
Market transition & commercialisation
Sessions will examine the Government’s longer-term aim to transition from subsidy-based support to a liberalised, demand-driven market, and the effects of market changes on investor confidence and long-term revenue certainty. Sessions will also address questions over the commercial evidence base for implementing technologies at scale, and whether cost projections adequately reflect deployment realities.
Industrial strategy & technology deployment
The agenda will examine the effectiveness of technology utilisation and whether priorities align with net zero objectives. Attendees will assess the coordination between CCUS deployment and broader industrial transition, including the balance between supporting existing facilities and enabling fundamental change in carbon-intensive sectors.
Governance, regulation & delivery
There will be a focus on options to improve system governance and oversight, and the coordination between infrastructure providers and regulators. Capacity constraints facing local planning authorities in evaluating complex CCS projects will be assessed, as well as national guidance needs and integration into local planning frameworks.
Public trust & net zero objectives
With some stakeholders having raised concerns about the potential for carbon capture to reinforce business models not aligned with long-term decarbonisation, delegates will examine the direction of public funding, and policy safeguards required to ensure CCUS is applied as a clearly defined transitional measure towards decarbonisation. The agenda will also explore environmental litigation risks and community concerns in regions hosting CCUS infrastructure.
Supply chain development & international relationships
The conference will assess implication of UK reliance on international oil and gas companies for CCUS delivery, and how their global strategies may affect UK priorities. Looking at how post-Brexit regulation might affect the UK-EU emissions trading scheme linkage and cross-border carbon storage arrangements, delegates will examine approaches to managing international coordination whilst maintaining domestic policy flexibility.
Regional and workforce development
Further discussion will address workforce transition and skills development to meet CCUS deployment needs, regional development priorities linked to industrial decarbonisation, and the long-term licensing and permitting framework - including options for balancing offshore and onshore storage, and how these decisions interact with local economic strategies and planning policy.
Overall, areas for discussion
- infrastructure and operational integration: coordination between clusters such as Acorn and Viking - streamlining permitting and planning - strengthening transport links and domestic supply chains
- revenue models and investment: finalising frameworks under the Energy Act 2023 - managing risk for shared open-access infrastructure - ensuring long-term revenue certainty in a post-subsidy market
- market transition strategy: development of merchant models - alignment with UK-EU carbon trading arrangements - cross-border carbon transport and trade implications
- commercial evidence base: cost assumptions for large-scale deployment - lessons from the international track record - balancing subsidy dependence with future market viability
- technology priorities: balance between gas-based projects and industrial decarbonisation - mandatory storage proposals such as Carbon Takeback Obligations
- regional equity: implications of funding concentration in initial clusters - supporting excluded industrial areas - synchronising rollout with wider industrial transition
- governance and regulation: clarifying the roles of the CCUS Council and devolved administrations - streamlining overlapping regulatory frameworks - improving reporting and verification standards
- local delivery capacity: resourcing and expertise for local planning authorities - integrating carbon capture projects into local development plans
- public funding alignment: balancing sector objectives with net zero goals - safeguarding against reinforcing fossil-dependent business models - ensuring CCUS serves as a transitional measure
- environmental and community impacts: addressing community concerns in industrialised areas - building public trust - managing litigation risks
- international dependencies: managing reliance on international oil and gas companies - securing domestic manufacturing capability - navigating post-Brexit regulation and European market integration
- workforce and skills: supporting workforce transition - developing specific skills pipelines for carbon capture technologies
- long-term licensing and regional strategy: licensing and permitting for offshore and onshore storage - integrating carbon capture within regional development priorities
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates. As well as key stakeholders, those due to attend include officials from Department for Energy Security and Net Zero; Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland; HM Treasury; Department for Education; National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority; Health and Safety Executive; Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, f Ireland; the Welsh Government; and The Scottish Government.
