China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, known as Sinopec, joined the International CCUS Technology Innovation Cooperation Organization, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy and Nazarbayev University’s Institute of New Materials and Energy Technologies to launch the Initiative for Cooperation on Low-Carbon Energy Development. Announced at the 2026 International CCUS Technology Conference in Astana on Sept. 1 and 2, the initiative aims to strengthen cooperation on CCUS (carbon capture, utilization and storage) technologies and standards and expand exchanges among industry professionals. More than 230 participants from dozens of countries and regions attended discussions on carbon dioxide capture, geological storage, CO2 mineralization and CCUS hub development, alongside the business models, policy frameworks and international partnerships needed for wider deployment. Sinopec vice president Tian Hongbin said CCUS had become a key enabling technology as global climate action entered a critical phase. Sinopec has built China’s first 100-kilometer dense-phase CO2 pipeline and commissioned the country’s first integrated CCUS demonstration project with annual capacity of one million metric tons. The company is studying China’s first open-access CCUS cluster at the 10-million-metric-ton scale with Shell, BASF and China Baowu, and is preparing a one-million-metric-ton demonstration project at Shengli Oilfield for lower-concentration CO2 sources. ICTO, established in July 2025, has 60 founding members from more than 20 countries and regions.