Low-carbon hydrogen can play a significant role by 2040 across the world, to support countries’ e!orts to achieve the Paris Agreement goals whilst contributing to the diversity and security of their energy portfolios. This would require significant global trade flows of hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels.

The momentum is continuing to grow worldwide, but di!erences are seen between regions – based on di!ering market activities and opportunities.

Moving from “whether” to “how” to develop low-carbon hydrogen highlights significant uncertainties, which need to be addressed if hydrogen is to reach its full potential. Can the challenges in various supply chain options be overcome? Can hydrogen play a role in tackling climate change in the short term? Can bankable projects emerge and the gap between engineers and financers be bridged? Can the stability of supply of the main low-carbon hydrogen production sources be guaranteed?

Enabling low-carbon hydrogen at scale would notably require greater coordination and cooperation between stakeholders worldwide, to better mobilise public and private finance, and to shift the focus to end-users and people: by moving from production cost to end-use price, developing Guarantees of Origin schemes with sustainability requirements, developing a global monitoring and reporting tool on low-carbon hydrogen projects and better considering social impacts alongside economic opportunities.