Federal Councillor Albert Rösti signs carbon storage agreement with Norway
Berne, 17.06.2025 — During his working visit to Norway on 16 and 17 June, Federal Councillor Albert Rösti signed an agreement on carbon storage with Norwegian Minister of Energy Terje Aasland. The agreement will allow Swiss CO2 to be stored in Norway and also enable both countries to trade negative emissions in a state-recognised framework. This represents a pioneering global agreement under the Paris Agreement.
Norway is a leader in carbon capture and storage. This agreement – a world first – will enable Switzerland to export and store CO2 in Norway while trading CO2 removed from the atmosphere ('negative emissions'). Swiss companies will be able to purchase negative emissions from Norway and vice versa, in accordance with the international standards set out in the Paris Agreement.
Mr Rösti, who heads the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC), highlighted another important reason for the agreement: “Carbon storage will be crucial for Switzerland on its path to net zero. This technology complements our existing decarbonisation tools.” The agreement also creates economic opportunities by increasing investment security for Swiss companies developing technologies to store hard-to-avoid emissions (see box). Alongside the agreement signing, a dozen Swiss companies and other stakeholders announced pilot projects to rapidly implement the new framework.
Mr Rösti visited the Northern Lights project near Bergen, which uses Swiss technology for permanent carbon storage beneath the seabed. In Oslo, he christened a CO2 transport vessel and toured a wastewater treatment plant where CO2 will be captured directly from exhaust gases. During a ministerial meeting, the DETEC head discussed net zero targets with European counterparts. Mr Rösti was accompanied by a senior business delegation throughout the trip.
Box
Under its Climate and Innovation Act, Switzerland has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. This will be achieved primarily through emission reductions. However, hard-to-avoid emissions – particularly from cement production, waste recycling, agriculture and aviation – must be either avoided or offset using carbon capture and storage technologies with permanent storage. Given Switzerland's limited domestic carbon storage capacity, international cooperation is essential. The Federal Council approved the agreement with Norway on 6 June.
Links
Working visit to Norway – Bergen/Oslo, 16/17 June 2025 - DETEC
Joint press release on the signing of the Switzerland–Norway agreement (PDF, 232 kB, 17.06.2025)