UKCCSRC Spring 2025 Conference – Parallel 1a – Policy, Regulation & People (ECR Meeting Fund)

Aisha Ibrahim (University of Sheffield), Rose McCarthy (University of Leeds) and Jose Fabian (Newcastle University) share their takeaways from the “Parallel 1a – Policy, Regulation & People” session at the UKCCSRC Spring 2025 Conference.

Industrial decarbonisation plays a critical role in meeting the UK’s net-zero target by 2050, with carbon capture and storage (CCS) offering transformative opportunities to drive economic growth, create jobs and support local communities. Achieving this, however, requires government-backed investments in innovative CCS technologies and a focus on regional cluster strategies that foster low-carbon industrial hubs. The challenge lies in ensuring that the benefits of decarbonisation are distributed equitably, while building reciprocal relationships between industry, government and host communities. These themes formed the basis of “Parallel Session 1a – Policy, Regulation, and People”, chaired by Clair Gough (UKCCSRC & University of Manchester), featuring insightful presentations from Professors Karen Turner (University of Strathclyde) and Patrick Devine-Wright (University of Exeter).

Professor Karen Turner, Director of the Centre for Energy Policy at the University of Strathclyde, kicked off the session by presenting her research on the economic impact of an emerging CCUS industry in the UK, with a specific focus on the transport and storage sector surrounding the Track 1 and Track 2 industrial CCS clusters. She discussed how current and persisting labour markets within the UK may impact the economy-wide outcomes of deploying a CO₂ transport and storage sector.

Professor Turner shared projections that the expanding transport and storage sector could create around 17,000 full-time-equivalent jobs within the clusters and potentially boost gross domestic product (GDP) by up to £1.8 million per annum. These estimates represent the best-case scenario, assuming there are no constraints in the labour market. However, a significant challenge for the UK’s CCUS industry, also highlighted during other talks in the conference, will be worker and skills shortages in this area.

In the next part of her talk, Professor Turner introduced the results from CGE simulations on the economy-wide impact of a new transport and storage industry. These simulations are a class of economic models that use real-world data to predict how an economy might respond to changes in policies, technology or other external factors. They take into account various scenarios, such as wage elasticity (the sensitivity of employment to a change in wage rates), and the effects of worker migration and displacement on economic parameters like GDP. See the photograph above for details on the different scenarios Professor Turner presented during her talk.

The key takeaway from Professor Turner’s modelling was that the development of a CO₂ transport and storage sector in the UK would likely lead to net job growth and increased GDP, but workforce planning will be crucial for ensuring the UK can maximise the economic benefits of this new industry. For the country to fully capitalise on the economic opportunity this new industry may bring, policy action is needed by the Government. They will need to introduce measures to ease labour supply and skills shortages, minimise job displacement (from workers leaving jobs elsewhere to access these new jobs in the CCUS industrial clusters) and reduce price pressures which may be caused by a developing transport and storage industry.

Professor Turner’s presentation offered a comprehensive overview of how a CO₂ transport and storage industry could impact the UK economy, with a particular focus on the labour market challenges facing the sector. If you’d like more information, you can find the published study here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.140084.

Next, Professor Patrick Devine-Wright, from the University of Exeter, delivered a compelling presentation on the importance of place and just transitions in decarbonisation, emphasising how industrial projects like carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) and hydrogen deployment projects shape, and are shaped by, the communities they impact. He introduced the Advanced Capacity in Climate and Environmental Social Science (ACCESS) initiative, which seeks to make existing research on social acceptance, environmental justice and public engagement more accessible.

Professor Devine-Wright highlighted research from the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC) initiative, focusing on perceptions of decarbonisation in industrial clusters such as Milford Haven, Ellesmere Port and Grangemouth. The findings revealed contrasting views between stakeholders (government and industry) and host communities. While stakeholders saw industrial clusters as potential hubs for technological innovation and economic revitalisation, they often overlooked local identity, culture and community engagement. Conversely, residents expressed mixed feelings with pride in their industrial heritage but had concerns over pollution, poverty and declining public services. They emphasised the need for genuine engagement and transparency, voicing scepticism about top-down decarbonisation efforts that felt more like PR campaigns.

To bridge these gaps, Professor Devine-Wright presented two frameworks. The first, a Place-Sensitive Approach, offers guiding principles to help industry and government engage meaningfully with communities. Key recommendations include: building trust by recognising the knowledge and agency of local people, fostering reciprocal relationships where communities are active partners in the process, and addressing broader place-based concerns, such as poverty, public services and housing. The second framework, developed by a multi-university consortium, emphasises that deploying technologies like CCUS should be seen as part of an ongoing process of place-making, where local histories, identities and experiences are considered, drawing on principles of environmental justice.

Professor Devine-Wright concluded with a call for stakeholders to treat host communities as key partners in decarbonisation efforts. By fostering dialogue, rebuilding trust and ensuring tangible local benefits like jobs and infrastructure, decarbonisation can deliver long-lasting, equitable outcomes and create better places for the people who live and work there.

The Q&A session emphasised the importance of leadership in bridging gaps between communities and stakeholders, encouraging cluster leaders to integrate socio-economic research into practical strategies and employing academics to foster long-term, collaborative relationships with local communities. By reflecting on the historical evolution of industries and applying these lessons, stakeholders can guide future decarbonisation efforts more effectively.

Overall, after attending this Parallel 1a session, the message was clear that industrial decarbonisation is a key piece to achieving the Net Zero target by 2050, but to reach this ambitious goal, the UK government need to be part of the stimulation to invest in technologies, e.g. industrial carbon capture, the CO₂ and hydrogen transportation pipelines, offshore pipelines and subsea CO₂ storage, providing a cost-effective decarbonised energy supply and storage opportunities to industry. The major progress to decarbonise the UK industry will be through different cluster plans which enable places to thrive in a low-carbon future turning them into an attractive place for industry to operate. As decarbonisation is represented as transformative to revive the industry, it’s important to build reciprocal relationships between industry, communities and government, adopting a place-sensitive lens and treating the host communities as key stakeholders. Carbon capture and storage also creates a valuable chain by linking companies or organisations which have not collaborated before, bringing different expertise and a more diverse network of stakeholders, driving economic development and growth.