France and Norway have formalized a new bilateral agreement that allows for the cross-border transport and permanent storage of CO2 — marking a pivotal move toward creating a unified carbon capture and storage (CCS) market across Europe.
The accord, signed on June 23 in Oslo by Norway’s Energy Minister Terje Aasland and French Finance Minister Éric Lombard, permits industrial CO2 emissions from major French ports—including Le Havre, Dunkirk, and Saint-Nazaire—to be shipped to Norway.
Once transported, the emissions will be injected into geological formations beneath the North Sea on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).
The arrangement not only enables practical collaboration between the two countries on carbon management but also lays a regulatory foundation for how Europe might handle transnational CCS operations.
Both governments committed to jointly reporting their greenhouse gas inventories related to these cross-border CO2 transfers and storage activities, ensuring transparency and regulatory alignment.
Norway has been actively developing its CO2 storage infrastructure. Its Ministry of Energy has already issued a dozen licenses for carbon storage exploration on the NCS, in addition to granting one full exploitation license, currently held by the Northern Lights project — a joint venture between Equinor, Shell, and TotalEnergies.
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Equinor, a key player in Norway’s carbon management sector, was also recently granted another exploration license in the North Sea, as part of the country’s ongoing efforts to scale up storage capacity.
The French-Norwegian deal is viewed as a milestone in connecting Europe’s emitters with offshore storage resources, providing the legal and logistical groundwork for a cross-continental CCS network capable of supporting the EU’s climate neutrality goals.
“This arrangement is a breakthrough for European climate cooperation. It demonstrates how we can work together to find practical solutions for cutting emissions and securing the future of industry in a low-carbon society,” said Norway’s Minister of Energy, Terje Aasland.
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