Leiden University in the Netherlands was founded in 1575 and is one of Europe’s leading international research universities. The motto of the University is Praesidium Libertatis – Bastion of Freedom. Participation in STRATEGY CCUS fits with the core values and ambitions of Leiden University. Excellent scientific research and education are crucial for a safe, healthy, sustainable, prosperous and just world. Leiden University aims to maximise the impact of its research and teaching on society by encouraging close cooperation with local, regional, national and international partners.

The Social, Economic and Organisational Psychology department focuses on the application of scientific psychological knowledge of social processes within and between groups of people and individuals to address issues in larger society. The department is internationally recognised as one of the leading institutes examining factors influencing public perception of CCS. For over two decades, its researchers have coordinated and conducted quantitative and qualitative social science research in large national and international programmes on CCS and CCUS, such as CATO (2004-2014), FENCO ERA-NET (2009-2010), and ALIGN-CCUS (2017-2020). They have published in renowned international peer reviewed journals, have presented their work at key scientific conferences and are members of the GHGT Expert Review Panel and International Energy Agency Greenhouse Gas Social Research Network Steering Committee. They are also founders of the CCS Social Science Research Network.

CO2 Value Europe (CVE) is the industry association founded in November 2017 to foster the market deployment of a broad set of innovative technologies, which can recycle CO₂ emissions into useful products such as fuels, materials and chemicals.

In the short time since its creation, CVE has become the legitimate representative of the Carbon Capture & Utilisation (CCU) industry to the EU Institutions. The association attracted 70 pioneer companies covering the entire CO₂ value chain: CO₂ emitters from energy intensive industries, developers and upscalers of CO₂ capture and conversion technologies, as well as distributors and users of CO₂ -based products.

CVE focuses on a series of themes: information gathering and sharing on CCU technologies developed in Europe and across the world; participation to defining strategic roadmaps for CCU development, matchmaking to develop demonstration projects; support for public and private funding for CCU R&I; communication activities to increase the visibility of CCU approaches.

The members of CVE believe that a favourable policy framework must be developed to ensure that CCU solutions can rapidly contribute to the ambitious goals of the EU Green Deal. Many CCU technologies are now technically ready and provide drop-in solutions without requiring any significant modification of existing production, distribution and use infrastructure.

The rapid large-scale deployment of these technologies is therefore key to reaching the EU’s climate objectives in 2030 and 2050, while at the same time creating job opportunities and strengthening the global leadership that Europe currently has on many CCU technologies.