After the COP26 held in Glasgow last year, many Asian countries echoed western countries regarding the need to find pathways to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and beyond with international assistance. In trying to find such pathways, attention will need to be paid to the accessibility, availability, and affordability of energy supply to achieve reasonable economic growth continuously up until 2050.

In the transition period toward carbon neutrality beyond 2050, a gradual shift from coal to gas in power generation will be an important policy. Besides switching to cleaner fuels such as gas, ammonia, and hydrogen, and to clean technologies, adopting carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) or carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies is needed for Asia to achieve net zero targets. However, adopting such technologies can be a challenge for Asia due to geopolitical factors that affect the international fossil fuel market. The rising fossil fuels price will lead to an additional investment on fossil fuel that means its consumption and CO2 emissions will also increase.

This forum will examine the CCUS situation and policies in East Asia and identify challenges in deploying such technologies. 

The forum is organized by the Asia CCUS Network Forum, which aims to share insights among government officials, business and private sectors, academics, and experts on the possible changing energy landscape toward cleaner energy system through technologies such as CCUS.

The forum is co-hosted by the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) as the network's secretariat and the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), Japan.

Featured speakers

• Nishimura Yasutoshi, Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), Japan
• Hidetoshi Nishimura, President, ERIA 
• Arifin Tasrif, Minister, Energy and Mineral Resource, Indonesia
• Raphael Perpetuo Mercado Lotilla, Secretary, Department of Energy, Philippines
• Kulit Sombatsiri, Permanent Secretary of Energy, Thailand
• Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary, Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, Department of Energy, United States
• Alex Zapantis, General Manager, Global CCS Institute  
• Koji Yamamoto, Vice-President, Oil & Gas Upstream Unit, Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation  
• Patrick Bűrgi, Director, Innovation, South Pole; Co-Founder, CCS+ Initiative 
• Han Phoumin, Senior Energy Economist, Energy Unit, ERIA; Senior Officer, ACN Secretariat 
• Shigeru Kimura, Special Advisor on Energy Affairs, ERIA