Governance for a Sustainable Hydrogen Economy: A Review of the Current State of Play

This study provides a comprehensive overview of the emerging sustainability governance architecture in the hydrogen sector. Chapter 2 presents key elements of a robust sustainability governance landscape and their most important characteristics. This conceptual framework forms the basis for characterizing and comparing key governance elements throughout the remainder of the report. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 provide a comprehensive overview of existing government strategies, regulations, and funding schemes in the European Union, the United States, and China, respectively. This overview is complemented by a small number of illustrative government funding schemes from other important countries presented in Chapter 6. Chapter 7 provides a review of existing standards and certification schemes relevant to hydrogen sustainability. Chapter 8 focuses on how sustainability considerations are applied in due diligence processes in the financial sector, including public and private financial institutions. Chapter 9 presents selected high-level principles and supporting initiatives that provide orientation and guidance for sustainability-related governance mechanisms at the international level. The report concludes with Chapter 10, which provides a synthesis of the study’s results and draws a number of policy-related conclusions.