CCB’s Position Paper on Offshore Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

What is Offshore CCS and why does it matter for the Baltic Sea context?

Offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) means capturing CO₂ from industrial processes, fossil fuel power generation or biomass combustion, transporting it, and injecting it into rock formations beneath the seabed, such as saline aquifers or depleted oil and gas fields. It is promoted as a near-term way to limit emissions.

Even though CCS is promoted as a near-term climate mitigation option, several uncertainties remain:

- It is uncertain whether the CO₂ stays stored in the long-term. Every stage of CCS' value chain also needs energy and industrial activity, which creates its own emissions and ecological impacts.
- Captured CO₂ can be used for Enhanced Oil or Gas Recovery, which raises the question of whether CCS supports decarbonisation or prolongs fossil fuel production.
- Offshore CCS poses risks in every project phase: capture, exploration, transport, injection, monitoring and long-term storage.

Coalition Clean Baltic (CCB) believes that these considerations are particularly important in the Baltic Sea, one of the most heavily used and environmentally stressed marine regions in the world, which is already impacted by multiple anthropogenic pressures and remains in poor ecological status. Therefore, this position paper aims to examine offshore CCS through the lens of environmental protection and outlines the risks, impacts, concerns, and key position points regarding the heightened interest in the development of CCS in the Baltic Sea.


Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.