London | 29 January, 2026

A new analysis by Marsh Risk, a business of Marsh (NYSE: MRSH) and the world’s leading insurance broker and risk advisor, warns that the UK and Europe could miss out on significant carbon capture and storage (CCS) investment opportunities if governments do not provide stable and credible support, as emerging markets in the Middle East and Asia quickly gain traction for capital investment. Challenges such as rising costs, regulatory readiness gaps, and policy uncertainty threaten to slow deployment, putting jobs and regional economic growth at risk.

The analysis, CCS at Scale: Aligning Risk and Reality in Carbon Capture and Storage, is based on the views of 504 senior UK-based CCS decision-makers covering the global CCS value chain. According to the findings, Europe is currently the leading region for planned CCS investment, with 62% of industry leaders targeting the area, ahead of North America and the Middle East & North Africa. 

However, with the average forecast cost to capture, transport, and store CO2 coming in at $163.45 per tonne – well above current carbon prices – many projects are likely to remain reliant on national subsidies to be commercially viable. Furthermore, 42% of leaders expect costs to rise by 11-15% and 31% anticipate increases of 16-20%, adding even greater pressure to project economics.

The cautious investment approach being taken to CCS projects is reflected through the analysis’s findings of a staggered timeline for Final Investment Decisions (FIDs): 26% of FIDs are expected between 2025-27; 35% between 2028-30; 23% between 2031-33; and 12% between 2034-36. While this could reduce developers’ immediate financial exposures, it risks creating a bottleneck towards the end of the decade, putting strain on financing, supply chains, and storage capacity. 

Insurance is seen as a key enabler of CCS projects, with nearly two-thirds of leaders relying heavily on insurance to manage risks. However, engagement between risk, insurance, and technical teams remains limited, highlighting the need for better alignment between risk management and project delivery.

Andrew Herring, Global Chair of Energy and Power, Marsh Risk, said: “Stable policy frameworks, regulatory certainty, and credible risk transfer mechanisms are essential if the global CCS industry is to attract the scale of investment needed to accelerate decarbonisation and support economic growth. For this vision to be realised, governments must commit to multi-year funding programmes, establish clear project pipelines, and invest in essential CO2 transport and storage infrastructure. The insurance industry is playing its part in enabling this vital energy transition industry to grow – governments must also now step up.”

The findings show CCS is shifting from mainly US and Eurocentric markets – which enjoy established emissions trading schemes, attractive tax incentives, and streamlined permitting – to a multi-regional investment frontier. For example, the Middle East has scale and cost advantages, particularly through energy megaproject integration, while there is strong government backing in Japan and South Korea, and early hubs around heavy industrial clusters in Singapore. Projects are already planned across Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.

Emerging regions are positioning themselves as the next CCS growth wave: Australia is leading in the Pacific, with projects linked to LNG and hydrogen exports using existing energy infrastructure; and in China, CCS pilots are projected to grow under the 2060 net-zero pledge.