German lawmakers pave way for CO2 export and offshore storage

The German parliament has adopted law reforms that enable the export of carbon dioxide for storage in other countries and permanent domestic offshore storage, clearing a key hurdle to a wide application of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies in the country. 

Lawmakers voted for a change of the country's rules that ban dumping waste and other materials in the sea, as well as a law to ratify the amendment of the London Protocol to allow CO2 export for storage offshore in other countries. These are necessary legal changes alongside the reform of the country’s carbon storage law, which received the final green light in November 2025. 

“For us, it is clear that CCS in the seabed is not a substitute for consistent climate action on land, but only a supplementary option for unavoidable residual emissions from industrial processes,” said Dunja Kreiser, member of parliament of the Social Democrats (SPD), who are the conservatives’ partner in the current coalition government. 

Germany revised its rules on CO2 storage and transport to pave the way for the large-scale application of CCS or carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) as part of climate action efforts. The reform allows carbon storage under the seabed, enables the construction of pipelines to transport CO2, and effectively rules out the use of CCS on coal-fired power plants.

The German government has said technologies to capture, transport and permanently store carbon dioxide deep underground are “indispensable” to reach Germany’s targets of climate neutrality by 2045 and net negative emissions after 2050. It also said that CCS is needed to ensure Germany’s competitiveness. Energy and climate researchers also say CCS will be necessary to a certain extent to reach climate targets. However, critics have argued for years that CCS could be used to extend the lifetime of the fossil fuel industry, harming rather than helping the climate.