G8 energy ministers, meeting in Japan, said in a statement that Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), which stops emissions at their root, played a "critical role" in "tackling the global challenge of climate change and energy security".

The International Energy Agency, a Paris-based energy security body set up in 1974 after the first oil crisis, has recommended commercial use of the CO2-burying technology by 2020.

The G8 group includes Britain, Canada, Italy, Japan, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, but the G8 ministerial talks were later expanded to include China, India and South Korea. The 11-nation joint statement said they "will work towards the creation of an enabling environment for the broad deployment".