The development of cost-effective technologies for the separation and capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) for its transport, utilisation and long-term safe storage, will be in focus at a conference to be held in Saudi Arabia, next month.

The 6th Ministerial Conference of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF), will take place from November 1 to 4, in Riyadh.

The meeting takes place just one month ahead of the highly anticipated United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21) in Paris and is a significant platform to reinforce the kingdom’s commitment to achieve excellence in all areas of the kingdom’s industrial operations to support the global goal of achieving sustainable economic development, social development and environmental protection, said a statement.

The meeting, organised by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and the CSLF Secretariat, will be attended by ministers and senior officials holding portfolios related to the environment, energy and sustainable development from 22 CSLF Member Countries, it said.

Petroleum and Energy Ministers from the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) will also join the meeting which will be opened and co-chaired by Ali I Al Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and Dr Ernest Moniz, US secretary of energy.

The kingdom joined the CSLF in 2005, in addition to its efforts under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, it added.

Carbon sequestration is the process of capture, utilisation or long-term storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide. This process will either mitigate or defer climate change. It has been proposed as a way to slow the atmospheric and marine accumulation of greenhouse gases, which are released by burning fossil fuels.

The mission of the CSLF is to facilitate the development and deployment of such technologies via collaborative efforts that address key technical, economic, and environmental obstacles. The CSLF will also promote awareness and champion legal, regulatory, financial, and institutional environments conducive to such technologies, said the statement.

The CSLF is currently comprises 23 members, including 22 countries and the European Commission. CSLF member countries represent over 3.5 billion people, or approximately 60 per cent of the world's population, it added.

Khalid Abuleif, lead climate change negotiator for Saudi Arabia at COP21, said: “The forum is testimony of Saudi Arabia’s strong advocacy of developing and pursuing a wide range of clean greenhouse gas (GHG) energy technology and GHG management solutions and initiatives that complement its traditional oil and gas activities.”

“As the most reliable energy supplier to the world, Saudi Arabia has a major role to play in shaping the future energy landscape in a GHG constrained world. To achieve this holistically, we have already in place a comprehensive carbon sequestration strategy which complements the Kingdom’s broader GHG management framework,” he added.

“GHG including carbon dioxide management is a corner stone of the kingdom’s energy strategy. At a holistic-level, the kingdom has been an active and responsible member of the international community in all climate change initiatives over the past decades,” he concluded. – TradeArabia News Service