ASTANA, Sept. 1 — The 2026 International CCUS Technology Conference opened in Astana on Tuesday, drawing more than 230 participants from government agencies, international organizations, universities, research institutes and companies across dozens of countries and regions.

The two-day conference is co-hosted by the International CCUS Technology Innovation & Cooperation Organization (ICTO), China Petrochemical Corporation, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Energy and INMET of Nazarbayev University. It aims to deepen international exchanges and cooperation on carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) and to support the global green and low-carbon energy transition.

Ma Yongsheng, President of ICTO and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, chaired the opening ceremony. Attendees included Yerlan Akbarov, Deputy Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan; Han Chunlin, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the Republic of Kazakhstan; Riccardo Savigliano, who heads the Energy Systems and Industrial Decarbonization Division at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO); Zhumabay Bakenov, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Kazakhstan; Rakhim Uteyev, Director General of KMG Engineering; Saken Kalkamanov, Chairman of the Management Board of the International Green Technologies and Investment Projects Center; and Ismailov Shavkat Abdullayevich, General Manager of the Kyrgyz Information Company in Kazakhstan, among others.

During the conference, ICTO, together with Sinopec, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Energy and Nazarbayev University, released the Initiative on Energy Low-Carbon Development and Cooperation. Representatives from government agencies, energy companies and international organizations from China, Kazakhstan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and other countries attended the release.

A themed exhibition highlighting representative achievements in the CCUS field was held alongside the conference. On Sept. 2, the conference featured two parallel thematic forums, followed by a delegate visit to Nazarbayev University's national laboratory.