The liability framework for the shipping phase of carbon capture and storage: A critical study of the liability regime for CO2 leakage during cross-border CO2-shipping activities in the North Sea.

Abstract

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been heralded as a vital tool in the global fight against climate change, with a crucial role in tackling CO2 emissions whilst ensuring energy security. Except where infrastructure is located directly above a geological storage site, captured CO2 must be safely transported to the injection reservoir. Accordingly, the transport chain is a central link in the establishment of full-scale CCS facilities and there is a pressing need to ensure the proper regulation of transport options to ensure optimisation of the chain. This thesis explores the legal challenges with the liability framework which regulates CO2 leakage during cross-border CO2-shipping activities in the North Sea. The aim of this thesis is to bring clarity to rhetoric in this area by identifying and analysing the key instruments applicable to CO2-shipping in respect of loss of cargo within the North Sea. It examines the shortcomings of the liability regime for CO2-shipping and suggests ways in which it may be revised to better account for the particular nature of the CCS value chain. It suggests that entry into force of the International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea 2010 would overcome many of the challenges of the current regime by implementing a global, harmonised liability regime. Additionally, it argues that inclusion of shipping within Directive 2009/31/EC and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme is necessary to integrate CO2-shipping into the CCS value chain and incentivise the deployment of CO2-shipping in the North Sea.