Tokyo, 30 September 2022: The Second Asia CCUS Network Forum was held in a hybrid format at the Tokyo Prince Hotel, Japan, on 30 September 2022. It was co-hosted by Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (METI) and Economic Research Institute of ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). The meeting feature messages from Prof Hidetoshi Nishimura, President of Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia jointly with Mr Nishimura Yasutoshi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, and representatives from member countries of the Asia CCUS Network, and was attended by about 70 people in person and about 600 online. The participants deepened the discussions toward constructing an Asia-wide network for Carbon dioxide Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS), which will be key to simultaneously achieving decarbonization and economic growth. In addition, as a future vision for the Asian CCUS Network, it announced that they will build an Asia-wide CCUS network by 2030 and create a CCS pilot project in ASEAN by 2025.

The Asia CCUS Network (ACN) was launched last June as an international industry-academia-government platform aimed at sharing knowledge on CCUS utilization across Asia and developing the business environment for it. As discussed in the First ACN Forum last year, CCUS is a critical technology for decarbonization in Asia, where large-scale progress on replacing fossil fuels will not be easy to achieve in the short term, but there is a tremendous potential for storing CO2.

This second forum featured messages from Minister Nishimura and other ACN member countries, and was attended by about 70 people in person and about 600 online from national governments, international organizations, businesses, financial institutions, research institutions, and so on.

The forum kicked off with remarks by Minister Nishimura and Prof Nishimura Hidetoshi, President of ERIA, followed by congratulatory remarks by ministers from ACN member countries.

After that, the Global CCS Institute, JOGMEC, and the CCS+ Initiative representatives gave keynote speeches in which they emphasized the importance and necessity of technological development aimed at reducing the cost of CCUS in Asia, and the effectiveness of carbon markets for promoting its development.

Next, ERIA, the secretariat of the ACN, reported on the ACN's activities in 2021-22 and its future vision. It explained about its knowledge-sharing conference to foster a shared understanding of CCUS in Asia, implementation of capacity building training, and public calls for investigative research necessary to commence a CCS project. In addition, as a future vision, it announced that it will build an Asia-wide CCUS network by 2030 and create a CCS pilot project in ASEAN by 2025.

In a panel discussion by six members of the ACN Advisory Group (the United States, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines), the members explained their countries' own CCUS policies and discussed launching a CCS pilot project in ASEAN. CCS developed countries—namely, the United States, Japan, and Australia—shared their experience, and the ASEAN members welcomed their insights.

They shared the view that CCUS technology is essential for the Asian region, which is heavily dependent on thermal power generation, and that starting a CCS pilot project there will act as a powerful symbol. They also confirmed that ACN member countries, companies, and other entities will pool their wisdom to help launch the CCS pilot project in the near future. Furthermore, they stated that they would closely watch the activities of ERIA, which serves as a platform for the realization of CCUS in Asia, and of METI, which supports it.