Ipieca and its members are committed to supporting the delivery of the Paris Agreement, as per the first Ipieca Principle, a condition of membership.

Ipieca raises awareness and support for low-emissions pathways. It helps its members and the industry to understand technologies and practices, such as carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and carbon offsets, as well as other industry initiatives, which can enable them to reach net-zero emissions and help to deliver the Paris Agreement goals.

There is no single pathway to achieve the aims of the Paris Agreement. The Ipieca Net-zero emissions awareness briefing highlights that of the multiple pathways to net zero, those that also achieve the ambitions of UN Sustainable Development Goals, such as prosperity and energy access for all, require all energy sources, including oil and gas, for the foreseeable future.

Multiple pathways with different combinations of technologies will deliver the aims of the Paris Agreement. Each region will take its own approach, depending on levels of economic development, availability of energy sources and population energy needs, among other factors.

Ipieca at UNFCCC COP events

  • Ipieca participated in the inaugural COP in Berlin in 1995.

  • In the run up to COP21, Ipieca created the Paris Puzzle, a series of papers on the key components to address climate change.

  • Ahead of COP22 in Marrakech, Ipieca released Exploring low-emissions pathways on the common elements and critical enablers of a low-emissions future.

  • Ipieca delivered a side event on CCS and its potential role in helping to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

  • Ipieca focused on low-emissions transport, producing the paper Exploring low-emissions pathways for transport.

  • In the lead up to COP26, Ipieca held a virtual roundtable ‘Zigzag to zero? Positive pathways to Paris’ on net-zero emissions through industry, investor and civil society lenses. At the COP, Ipieca held a side event on ‘Contributing to a net-zero future: the crucial role of technology and partnerships for the energy transition and a sustainable future for all’.

  • Ipieca held an official UNFCCC side event on ‘Adaptation, resilience and just transition: business engagement to deliver the Paris Agreement’. We also hosted side events on ‘Enablers of a net-zero emissions future in the Global South’ and ‘Measuring up to the methane challenge’ and more.

  • Again, Ipieca was selected by UNFCCC to co-host an official side event on ‘Business leadership on the Global Stocktake: catalyzing investment while prioritizing a just transition’. Ipieca also participated in two other official UNFCCC side events, and hosted and participated in a number of other events, workshops and meetings. Click here for more information.


Carbon capture and storage

One of the key technologies that can enable large-scale, cost-effective mitigation of CO2 within the industry and across other sectors is carbon capture and storage (CCS).

CCS will likely be key to the transformation of the energy system. The IPCC Sixth assessment report attaches considerable importance to CCS, with most global modelled mitigation pathways which achieve net zero including deployment of CCS, including the pathway which relies heavily on renewables technologies.

The oil and gas industry is currently working to develop CCS technologies and projects, as well as to address barriers and explore opportunities to enable its uptake. Of the 15 large-scale CCS projects in operation today, 11 are based on oil and gas activities.

In 2023, Ipieca collaborated with SPE Gaia, OGCI and IOGP on a series of CCS webinars to share knowledge and good practice on how to sustainably scale up this technology.

Hydrogen

Achieving the ambitions of the Paris Agreement will not be possible through electrification of the energy system alone, especially for those countries aiming to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. In the transition to a low-carbon economy, hydrogen could play a key role.

Hydrogen combustion can produce the high-quality heat necessary for numerous industrial processes. Low-carbon hydrogen can support hard to abate sectors such as heavy industry and heavy-duty transport - often the drivers of developing economies - to lower their emissions as well as offer large-scale, long-term back up for renewables.

The oil and gas sector has the experience, skills and knowledge to develop and scale up production of hydrogen from gas as a low-carbon, low-cost source of energy. A hydrogen economy can make use of existing gas pipeline infrastructure.

Ipieca’s Hydrogen: enabling the energy transition and the pathways to net-zero emissions provides an overview of this technology, exploring the different methods by which hydrogen can be produced and stored, as well as the opportunities for its use in industry, transportation and households. It also features a range of industry case studies.

Carbon-compensated products

Ipieca members support the use of carbon-compensated products that align with the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions mitigation hierarchy. Priority is given to avoiding and reducing emissions within the product value chain.

The use of carbon offsets is a last-resort solution to compensate for residual GHG emissions. Where emissions are unavoidable, high-quality offsets should be used, and offsetting strategy should be regularly revised as best practice evolves.

Carbon-compensation involves a company purchasing and retiring a volume of voluntary carbon credits to compensate for (or offset) GHG emissions. This can be applied to the energy products that oil and gas companies sell to their customers such as those used in fuels for transportation and heating.

Ipieca’s awareness brief builds a shared understanding of carbon-compensated products, their role in supporting net-zero ambitions and the energy transition, and explores good practice in using them.

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