CCS in CEE: Closing the Gap

Published: 17 February 2026

#EUKICON26 || Day 2 || 10:45 AM

Attendees will explore challenges of carbon capture technologies and its public perception in Central and Eastern Europe, aiming to identify gaps and foster coordinated efforts for fair industrial decarbonisation.

Description

Building on the GreenHorizon CEE project, this workshop aims to introduce the main challenges of enabling evenly distributed industrial decarbonisation technologies in the CEE region. Industrial carbon management refers to a set of technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) and/or utilization, usually deployed in carbon intensive hard-to-abate sectors, with the aim to reach climate goals and contribute to a just transition.

Despite their strategic importance for decarbonising these sectors, such technologies remain either contentious or unknown to the public. The divide in CCS project deployment is growing between Eastern and Western Europe, with the latter leading the race in terms of number of projects approved and deployed, strength of the institutional framework and financing instruments. Public perception on CCS plays an important role in successfully enabling decarbonisation pathways for industrial players in hard-to-abate sectors, which need carbon management technologies the most. An overlooked aspect of carbon management technologies is their potential to enable a just transition by maintaining existing economic activities essential to community livelihoods.

During this workshop, participants will gain insights in the capacity gaps of enabling carbon capture and storage and public perception on these technologies in CEE countries. Mapping country-level challenges and gaps can provide a comprehensive understanding of regional needs. This can enable coordinated cross-border efforts to deploy CCS and transform the region into a CCS hub that supports industrial transition and local communities. Moderators will present the benefits of carbon management technologies, but also critically assess the need of such technologies in some sectors. At the same time, they aim to debunk myths around CCS, reshape entranced narratives and stimulate discussion on best practices to address the challenges highlighted.

Facilitators

Ana Niculicea, Energy Policy Group (EPG)

Janis Volberts, Bellona Europa