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Environment & Climate

Off-record expert survey preceded 2005 U.N. carbon capture report, ProPublica reports

ProPublica reports that scientists ran an anonymous survey during work on a 2005 IPCC carbon capture report and left it out of the official document, and that only 12 large-scale storage projects have been built since 1996.

Updated Oct 30, 2026 · 12:24 UTC1 reports

The short version

  • ProPublica reports that in 2005 the U.N. convened more than 100 scientists in Oviedo, Spain, to finish a carbon capture report; according to U.N. officials and records, Saudi Arabia and other oil-exporting countries had pressed for it despite limited evidence.[ProPublica]
  • Lacking data, David Keith proposed an anonymous expert survey; the group agreed to take it off the record and omit it from the report, though some scientists worried it could mislead the public.[ProPublica]
  • Published five months later, the 431-page IPCC report portrayed carbon capture as a potential climate savior; a group led by Benson wrote that well-selected storage sites would likely retain 99% of carbon for at least 1,000 years.[ProPublica]
  • Only 12 large-scale geological storage projects have been built since 1996, seven with reported technical, financial or performance issues; the reporting found no evidence Benson skewed her findings.[ProPublica]

Key facts

  • In spring 2005, the United Nations convened more than 100 scientists in Oviedo, Spain, to finish a report on carbon capture and storage.[ProPublica]
  • Saudi Arabia and other oil-exporting countries pressed the U.N. to write the report despite limited evidence, according to U.N. officials and records.[ProPublica]
  • David Keith proposed an anonymous expert elicitation survey because evidence was scant, and the group agreed to take it off the record without mentioning it in the official report.[ProPublica]
  • The IPCC published a 431-page special report five months after the meeting, portraying carbon capture and storage as a potential climate savior.[ProPublica]
  • Since 1996, 12 large-scale geological storage projects have been constructed, and seven have faced technical, financial or performance issues.[ProPublica]
  • Occidental Petroleum paid more than $1 billion to buy the company founded by physicist David Keith.[ProPublica]
  • The reporting found no evidence that Benson skewed her scientific findings to suit industry patrons, and she has described the technology's flaws in her publications.[ProPublica]

What remains uncertain

  • Some scientists told the reporters that the survey's educated guesses could mislead the public; this concern is reported, not independently assessed.[ProPublica]
  • The link between the off-the-record survey and the report's conclusions rests on one investigation by ProPublica and Drilled and has not been independently confirmed by other outlets.[ProPublica]

Sources

Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.