Industry CEOs and government leaders meet at Davos 2019

Representatives from the hydrogen industry and national governments discuss international cooperation to move further and faster with the use of hydrogen as a core vector for a sustainable energy system.

Brussels, 12 February 2019 – At the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos in January, the Hydrogen Council, in partnership with the International Energy Agency (IEA) and WEF, brought together a group of its member companies representing the hydrogen industry value chain, as well as leaders from financial institutions and national governments willing to deploy hydrogen solutions, to exchange views on how to overcome challenges to large-scale hydrogen technology deployment.

In attendance were Hydrogen Council member companies represented by CEOs from Air Liquide, Airbus, Anglo American, Bosch, ENGIE, Shell, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Total, Toyota, and Royal Vopak; international organizations; and representatives from eight countries from both hemispheres in key regions for hydrogen development.

The meeting was a unique display of high-level engagement on hydrogen and emphasized the universal benefits of scaling up hydrogen technology, which has been outlined as a potential key contributor in the transition to a clean energy future. Attendees agreed that there is a need to accelerate the deployment of hydrogen as an important component of a broad-based, secure, sustainable and efficient energy portfolio.

“With upstream hydrogen production now at a mature stage, industry and transport are ready to scale deployment. Participants of the Davos meeting recognized that hydrogen needs to move faster,” said Benoît Potier, Co-chair of the Hydrogen Council and Chairman and CEO of Air Liquide. “The task is now to move forward with multilateral international cooperation and work together with governments and stakeholders across the entire value chain to align on priorities. In particular the focus will be on how to set appropriate regulations and standards as well as identify the needed investment vehicles to push deployment forward.”

While at the WEF annual meeting, the Hydrogen Council announced the appointment of Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Euisun Chung as its new co-chair. Joining Potier in an op-ed posted to the WEF blog, the two wrote that “We are operating in a complex ecosystem that will require the entire supply chain to act together. We need policies and incentives that make it possible for industry players to develop and deploy technology within and across regions, for investors to infuse capital in projects that need it most, and for civil society to access these innovations at a reasonable price.”