Enabling environment to seize today’s opportunities for hydrogen

At the G20 meeting in Japan, energy and environment ministers raised the importance of accelerating innovation, mobilizing finance and investment, and creating business opportunities to progress towards the Paris Agreement’s goals. To support the ministers’ discussions, the IEA launched a report, The Future of Hydrogen: Seizing Today’s Opportunities. This is the first comprehensive report on hydrogen published by IEA, which discusses the ways in which hydrogen can help to achieve a clean, secure and affordable energy future; and how we can go about realizing its potential by offering seven key recommendations.

Hydrogen can help tackle various critical energy challenges, including helping to store the variable output from renewables to better match demand. It also offers ways to decarbonize a range of sectors including long-haul transport, chemicals, and iron and steel, where it is proving difficult to reduce emissions meaningfully.

Based on the findings of the report, the session will introduce near-term opportunities to boost hydrogen towards its clean and widespread use. It will also discuss how to build enabling environment for businesses and further dissemination of innovative clean energy technologies.

Moderator : Sara Moarif, Head of Environment and Climate Change Unit, International Energy Agency (IEA)  

10:00 Keynote presentation: Future of Hydrogen

• Mechthild Wörsdörfer, Director of Sustainability, Technology and Outlooks, International Energy Agency (IEA)

10:20 Building enabling environment for businesses and innovative technologies

• Paula Abreu-Marques, Head of Unit for "Renewables and CCS policy", DG Energy, European Commission
• Tomoyoshi Yahagi, Deputy Director-General for Environmental Affairs, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan
• Gaia Puleston, Acting Assistant Secretary for International Climate Change, Department of the Environment and Energy, Australia 

10:50 Opportunities for hydrogen in clean energy transitions

• Cristina Ballester, Vice-President for Large Industries in Europe, AirLiquide
• Ellina Levina, Clean Energy Ministerial Secretariat

11:10 Q&A

11:25 Wrap-up by the Moderator