The second edition of the Conference on International Geological Storage and Sequestration (CIGSS) convened on January 27 and 28, 2026, in St-Ursanne, Switzerland, bringing together leading specialists to evaluate caprock integrity and carbon dioxide storage technologies. According to conference organizers, the biennial event united experts from government agencies, industry sectors, and academic research institutions across Europe and the United States.
Delegates from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the USA participated in the two-day summit hosted at the Mont Terri rock laboratory. The facility has spent approximately fifteen years conducting underground experiments centered on containment security and fluid propagation, establishing a robust empirical baseline for industrial-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) deployment.
Mont Terri Experiments Drive Storage Research
Technical sessions at CIGSS 2026 focused heavily on ongoing underground testing protocols administered at the Mont Terri rock laboratory. According to conference program notes, active research initiatives showcased during the event include the CO2 Long-Term Periodic Injection (CL) project, the CO2 Injection and Direct Observation of Fluid Propagation (CS-D) experiment, and the Imaging the Long-Term Loss of Faulted Host Rock Integrity (FS-B) study.
Timeline and Preparation for the 2026 Summit
Planning for the January 2026 gathering followed a structured submission and review schedule managed throughout 2025. Organizers established the initial abstract submission deadline for May 31, 2025, before extending the window to June 30, 2025. Abstract acceptance notifications and the opening of general registration both occurred on July 15, 2025.
Subsequent deadlines required participants to submit extended abstracts by an initial August 31, 2025 cutoff, which was later extended to September 21, 2025. Final revisions for extended abstracts were due on October 31, 2025, concluding with the official close of event registration on December 19, 2025.
International Collaboration in Geological Sequestration
Conference coordinators noted that the high scientific caliber of presentations cemented the summit’s status as a core fixture for European and transatlantic geosciences.
Worth a look