IOGP's De Matteis: Europe Needs Enabling Measures, Not Just CO2 Storage Targets for CCS

Caterina De Matteis, Senior Policy Manager at IOGP Europe, argues that Europe's 2030 CO2 storage target of 50 million tonnes annually is not within reach under current policies. She points out that only about 2.9 million tonnes of storage capacity has reached Final Investment Decision in the EU, with operational capacity even smaller at 0.025 million tonnes. The gap between political ambition and project reality is wide. De Matteis calls for enabling measures such as better investment frameworks, market incentives, and flexibility in the Net Zero Industry Act. She notes that policies across Europe remain fragmented, with big differences between regions like the North Sea, the Mediterranean, and Eastern Europe. Without harmonized support and legislative proposals that actually help projects move forward, the targets will stay aspirational. The article covers a key tension in European CCS policy: setting ambitious goals without the regulatory and financial infrastructure to back them up. For anyone tracking carbon capture deployment or EU climate policy, this interview lays out where the bottlenecks are and what industry is asking for next.