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Abstract The presence of impurities in captured carbon dioxide (CO2) can adversely affect the material integrity, operation and injectivity in carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) chains. Therefore, impurity concentration limits are set to create safe and effective CCUS chains. A ‘CO2 Specification’ represents the maximum tolerance to impurities within a CO2 stream that emitters must meet to gain entry to a common transportation and injection network. Setting the CO2 Specification requires an understanding of the impact of impurities across the entire CCUS value chain. A Joint Industry Project (JIP) was therefore formed to collate the current leading knowledge surrounding impurities and to create guidelines to support industry when setting a CO2 Specification for their CCUS projects. The JIP brought together 12 Operators and 6 leading industry and research institutions, with additional support from multiple licensors and equipment suppliers. The paper will introduce a suite of 12 work packages addressing the full value chain, from capture of industrial sources of CO2 and transportation via different options through to geological storage. Together, the work packages constitute the gold standard in industry guidance to accelerate the development of CCUS projects. A key outcome was the development of a holistic and logical approach that can be followed to determine the optimum CO2 Specification and impurity risk management strategy for a given project. The approach accounts for impurity impacts across the CCUS chain and directs to the relevant work packages for more detail at each step. A worked example of this methodology for setting the CO2 specification will be provided for a CCUS hub based on agreements with four emitters to enter a common transport infrastructure. The worked example will show the development of a Specification accounting for reactions that may form new impurities, hub configuration, safety, technical, integrity and economic impacts. The paper will demonstrate how a robust and implementable Specification can be iterated to achieve the most cost effective and sustainable results for a given CCUS chain. A key benefit of the approach is to achieve a balanced Specification that will facilitate collaboration with CO2 sources (emitters) who are assessing connection to the network. This collaborative approach is key to maturing the CCUS industry. These JIP guidelines have therefore been made publicly and freely available to support the growth of the CCUS industry by providing an understanding of the required CO2 conditioning to meet safety, environmental, technical and operational requirements of the entire chain [Wood, 2024].