At the 10th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM10) meeting, a new international hydrogen partnership was announced under the leadership of the United States, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands and the European Commission with participation of several other CEM member countries. The International Energy Agency (IEA) would be coordinating efforts under this initiative.

For the first time under the Clean Energy Ministerial, this effort will put the spotlight on the role that hydrogen and fuel cell technologies can play in the global clean energy transition.

The new hydrogen initiative will drive international collaboration on policies, programs and projects to accelerate the commercial deployment of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies across all sectors of the economy.

Drawing on the recommendations from the Hydrogen Energy Ministerial Meeting in 2018 in Japan, this cross-country collaboration will build on the successes of other global collaboration on hydrogen such as the Hydrogen Challenge under Mission Innovation, the ongoing work through the International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy and global analysis carried out through the International Energy Agency (IEA).

It will aim to address barriers and identify opportunities for hydrogen in the global transformation to a clean, affordable and reliable energy sector, including global supply chains for this new energy vector.

The new Hydrogen Initiative will focus on how hydrogen can contribute to cleaner energy systems, while promoting sustainability, resiliency and energy security. Initial work carried out through the initiative will focus on three different areas:

1. Helping to ensure successful deployment of hydrogen within current industrial applications.

2. Enabling deployment of hydrogen technologies in transport (e.g freight, mass transit, light-rail, marine).

3. Exploring the role of hydrogen in meeting the energy needs of communities.