Press Release 

Brussels, 15th November 2024  

Hydrogen Europe endorses the Hydrogen Declaration of the COP29 Presidency to unlock the potential of a global market for clean hydrogen and its derivatives.

The declaration, backed by several UN bodies, is a major initiative of the COP29 Presidency aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and contributing to global climate ambitions by gathering and making collective progress on hydrogen. This builds on last year’s COP28 commitments to accelerate low-carbon hydrogen production, transition away from fossil fuels, and triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, thus opening new avenues for a larger recognition of renewable and clean hydrogen and their derivatives as a key tool for decarbonisation.

The COP29 Hydrogen Declaration calls for the global community to scale up hydrogen by acting on demand creation, standards and certification, finance, capacity building, trade, R&D, and sustainability. In addition, countries are specifically encouraged to include hydrogen in their national climate and energy plans and to monitor the progress made at COP30.

The COP29 Presidency sees this as a crucial step “for both the public and private sectors to unlock the potential of a global market for clean hydrogen and its derivatives with guiding principles and priorities, to address regulatory, technological, financing, and standardisation barriers.”

Hydrogen Europe also supported the open letter of the global hydrogen industry. This Hydrogen Council-led initiative is complementary to the Hydrogen Declaration as it underlines the actions to accelerate the deployment of clean hydrogen and its derivatives by 2030.

Ivana Jemelkova, CEO of the Hydrogen Council, said “On behalf of the Hydrogen Council, we applaud the COP29 Presidency for recognising the important role of hydrogen in the energy transition and putting forward the COP29 Hydrogen Declaration, which calls for bold action on demand and inclusion of hydrogen in the 2025 submission of Nationally Determined Contributions. Hydrogen has grown seven-fold in just the last four years, now reaching $75 billion in committed capital with 400+ large-scale projects around the world past FID. To deliver our shared climate goals, however, we need to do more, faster. Today’s Hydrogen Declaration is a key step in that direction, and we are grateful to 20 international industry partners including Hydrogen Europe for coming together to support it.”

Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, CEO of Hydrogen Europe said “The COP29 Hydrogen Declaration is a historical step that recognises the increasing importance of hydrogen in global climate discussions. It highlights the urgent need for additional measures to affordably transport and store renewable energy after the previous COP’s pledge to triple renewables. With the COP29 Declaration, Hydrogen Europe shares its commitment to working together with its 600 members and its partner organisations globally and in Europe to scale up renewable and low-carbon hydrogen production and deployment.”

For more information:

• Open letter from the global hydrogen industry