Moving forward, together

It’s been a big month for green hydrogen.

As the intense comings and goings of  COP 26 wrap up, one big winner is emerging from Glasgow’s Conference of Parties: green hydrogen.  As countries, industries and business leaders gathered and discussed commitments and strategies to decarbonize our world, there has been a recognition — long in coming — that green hydrogen can be a sensible solution to meet national carbon-reduction ambitions,  and can be critical to help transform mass transit, long-haul vehicles, heavy duty vehicles and machinery, shipping, aviation, industry, and other massively carbon emitting activities. While hydrogen will never be the exclusive element of any national decarbonization strategy, this zero-emission energy source produced without also creating greenhouse gases will have an enormous role to play going forward.

Some days earlier, on the eve of COP26, the International Energy Agency had published its yearly edition of the World Energy Outlook. This year, the IEA put forth an important roadmap to move beyond carbon-reduction pledges. It specifically mapped the path towards a transition to green hydrogen, stating that the 2020s should be dedicated to testing technologies and building enabling infrastructure even if implementation is limited – and even though any significant impact on emissions would not occur before 2030, according to the IEA’s net-zero emissions roadmap. The IEA highlighted that while USD 37 billion had been committed to clean H2 by countries with hydrogen strategies and the global private sector has announced investments amounting to USD 300 billion, a total of USD 1.2 trillion would be needed by 2030 for hydrogen to significantly contribute to net zero emissions by 2050. 

Three questions arise:

1. How do we finance the missing 75% of USD 1.2 trillion? And who can help do so?
2. Which regulations and frameworks can accelerate this transformation of the mobility sector?
3. How do we ensure hydrogen remains clean?

Several multilateral organizations are attempting to bring their answers to these questions. The World Economic Forum, together with IRENA, have published a very useful toolbox to map obstacles to green hydrogen adoption, with an interesting focus on the mobility industry and specific geographies, such as the European Union and Japan. The Green Hydrogen Organization has committed to developing standards around what green hydrogen is, at a time when an abundance of colors is associated with the molecule.

With such great momentum and with so much at stake, it is critically important to bring all stakeholders to the table. Roadmaps must be transformed into action; innovation must be incentivized for business; test-cases piloted; cross-geography collaboration enhanced, and finance harnessed into vehicles that can accelerate the transition.

This is why the Monaco Hydrogen Alliance’s focus is on mobility and transportation – and leveraging the promise of green hydrogen to help decarbonize this most polluting of human activities, accounting for at least 24% of global carbon emissions.  Anchored in the Principality of Monaco, a European state that has long championed the need for a cleaner, more nature-centered world, the Monaco Hydrogen Alliance is preparing to launch dedicated thematic task forces to support this transition and facilitate action, foster partnerships, and cross-industry collaboration. We  believe this can be a truly impactful and practical way to help achieve Breakthrough Ambition in mobility and transportation, so vital to the global economy.

The time to act is now, and we have no choice but to move forward, together.