The significant but not dramatic shift to the right in the European Parliament gives a stronger voice to those who will argue for less emphasis on climate policy.

The EU is responsible for only 8 per cent of global carbon emissions and the argument that burdens should not be placed on industry in Europe that are not equally born by competitors elsewhere carries weight.

Of course, others will argue that high energy prices, labour costs, and sclerotic permitting procedures across the EU are a greater burden than climate legislation.

And public and political support are increasingly strengthened by the realities of climate change with its excessive heat, droughts or floods.

In debates of this kind carbon capture and storage rarely features. The majority of people, and the majority of policymakers, hardly give it a thought – if they have heard of it all!

Yet when it does feature support for the technology has most often been found on the right not the left. In the last Parliament, MEPs from the European Peoples’ Party (EPP) far outnumbered those from the Socialists & Democrats (S&D) when it came to signalling their interest in CCS.

And now their numbers have increased.CCS is not being imposed on industry, it is being championed by industry. It is seen as sometimes the only means by which CO2 emissions can be eliminated. Its deployment can also create huge business opportunities for European-based suppliers.

Of course, there has to be a business case to stimulate investment. For some years to come the key to this will be financial support from national governments, and most have still not adopted a CCS deployment strategy of any kind.

Yet it may well prove politically more easy for governments to reduce their country’s emissions by helping industry deploy CCS than to insist that citizens install heat pumps and give up eating meat.

The result of the elections poses no threat to CCS deployment. Our challenge remains the same as before – the need to convince policymakers that the technology is necessary, safe, practical and not as expensive as they might think.

Our efforts should be redoubled,. Industry leaders must not only speak out themselves but put money behind advocacy efforts aimed at winning over this new generation of European policymakers.