The advisory Board emphasizes that CATO is of great (global) importance to the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS). The current delays being faced by the CCS community globally will not decrease the relevance of CATO. Malcolm Wilson, from the University of Regina, on behalf of the advisory board: "That CCS is a valuable tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions is clear. Programs like CATO not only serve to develop technology, reduce cost and ensure the safety of CCS, they also serve to provide the skilled human capacity the industry will inevitably require. With the global slowdown, the role of CATO becomes that much more important to government and industry in that it develops and preserves this human capacity."

The advisory board notes that few national CCS R&D programs have integrated coverage of the full CCS chain. CATO may be unique in the world in this respect. In view of the broad scope of the CATO program, the advisory board states that CATO could strengthen its position as leading international program, and should ensure that CATO results are accessible to the international CCS community and the relevant scientific communities more widely. The CATO management welcomes the recommendations made by the advisory board and will pursue on its findings in close cooperation with CATO researchers.