Hydrogen for a resilient world: Global industry leaders launch CEO-led Call-to-Action amid recurrent crises

ROTTERDAM, May 20, 2026 – Amid compounding crises, the need to strengthen energy system resilience has never been more urgent. Today, more than two dozen global CEOs and senior government officials from major energy importing and exporting countries met in Rotterdam, in a high-level roundtable chaired by Stientje van Veldhoven, the Netherlands’ Minister for Climate and Green Growth.

The meeting marked the launch of the CEO-led Call-to-Action, Hydrogen for a Resilient World by the Hydrogen Council, the world’s largest and only CEO-led hydrogen alliance. Through the Call-to-Action, global industry leaders urged governments to accelerate the development of hydrogen, as a key enabler for deep and secure electrification, to boost long-term resilience across global energy systems, industry and society.

The latest International Hydrogen Trade Forum (IHTF) roundtable brought together government officials from nearly two dozen countries and a delegation of global CEOs from the Hydrogen Council from across EMEA, the Americas and APAC, led by Co-Chair François Jackow, CEO of Air Liquide. With governments grappling with renewed energy security pressures and emergency response measures, the roundtable opened the next chapter for hydrogen and a fresh push for joint industry-government action, calling for more ambitious, focused and pragmatic hydrogen strategies.

Stientje van Veldhoven, Minister for Climate and Green Growth of the Netherlands, on behalf of the IHTF Co-Chairs, said: “I want to stress how important the IHTF dialogue is between importing and exporting parties. We need the public-private collaboration to take firm steps to phase in clean hydrogen at scale in our energy system. In the face of today’s crisis, we need to shift gears to advance hydrogen deployment. I am pleased that the industrial leaders came with a set of tangible priority actions. We need to keep working together on stimulating demand, striving to harmonize certification systems, build infrastructure and set the right conditions to stimulate the market development.”

François Jackow, CEO of Air Liquide and Co-Chair of the Hydrogen Council, said: “The global energy crisis is a wake-up call to accelerate the deployment of hydrogen and achieve a more secure and diversified energy system. Making hydrogen a strategic priority is critical to complement electrification and build a resilient and decarbonized industry. The technology is ready, what we need now is ambitious and pragmatic policies to accelerate the scale-up.”

The Call-to-Action outlines three urgent priority actions for governments to accelerate hydrogen scale-up and strengthen long-term resilience, with pragmatic, technology-neutral policymaking critical to enabling scale:

1. Act now: embed hydrogen in emergency crisis response measures by recognising hydrogen and its derivatives as critical tools for supply diversification, electrification and energy security.
2. Activate demand creation tools through pragmatic instruments such as contracts for difference, offtake guarantees, lead-market programs, public procurement and quotas for clean industrial products, which provide the certainty needed to unlock investment at scale.
3. Boost critical infrastructure investment including electrolyzers, storage facilities, pipelines, port terminals and cross-border transport networks needed to connect emerging global supply and demand centres.

“UNIDO’s work demonstrates that when local engagement and local value creation are prioritized, low emissions hydrogen projects can catalyse social acceptance, economic diversification, job creation, long-term industrial growth and ensure that benefits are widely shared,” said Petra Schwager, Chief of the Climate and Technology Partnership (CTP) Division, UNIDO, coordinator of the IHTF. “By embedding local beneficiation across the hydrogen value chain, producing countries can fully benefit from the opportunities offered by low emissions hydrogen. UNIDO supports the IHTF and its Member States to forge the right partnerships and policies so that low emissions hydrogen can become a driver of sustainable prosperity, enabling countries to shape their own energy futures while contributing to global climate goals.”

The Hydrogen Council and its members stand ready to continue working with governments and international partners, including through the upcoming Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM), to accelerate hydrogen deployment and together deliver a more resilient world.