SHARM EL SHEIKH:  In partnership with Belgium, Egypt announced today the launch of the Global Renewable Hydrogen Forum, which aims at establishing a permanent platform for dialogue between hydrogen-producing countries and hydrogen-consuming countries and the private sector, organisations and financial institutions operating in this field. The dialogue’s main objective is to coordinate policies and procedures and create paths for trade and investment in hydrogen, thus contributing to accelerating the pace of the just transition we aspire to have.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi launched the forum at a Round Table on “Investing in the Future of Energy: Green Hydrogen”, held on the sidelines of COP27.

“Green hydrogen” has probably become the most commonly used term in the past few years in the context of making a shift to renewable energy and reducing reliance on traditional energy sources. This comes at a time particularly when the energy crisis that the world is currently going through is imposing on us all a real challenge in securing energy supply which our countries need, thus avoiding breaching duties with regard to facing the global climate crisis or falling short of the goals we agreed upon and the national policies through which we contribute to this effort. And here comes the green hydrogen as one of the most prominent solutions, in terms of making a shift to green economy in the coming years. It represents a real opportunity for economic development that is compatible with efforts to confront climate change and the Paris Agreement goals,'' President El-Sisi said.

In fact, he added, many countries have already begun to take serious steps in this direction, whether through formulating national hydrogen policies or setting ambitious time-bound goals for the gradual transition to green hydrogen, as a main source of energy, either through local production, import or both. Egypt was one of the first of these countries that have realized early on the opportunities available in this field, based on its huge potential in the production of clean energy. This, in turn, would enable it to become a global hub for green hydrogen production in the medium and long term.

The round-table brings together some of the largest hydrogen-producing and hydrogen-consuming countries and heads of organizations and companies operating in this sector.