H2ForNetZero gains momentum as Trane Technologies joins and six pledging companies progress strongly

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) today announced that one new company, Trane Technologies, has pledged to the H2ForNetZero initiative, joining 34 other companies in this commitment to accelerate the use of low-carbon hydrogen.  

This announcement made at the World Hydrogen 2023 Summit & Exhibition held in Rotterdam is a clear demonstration that, since its establishment in 2021 at the United Nations 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26), the H2ForNetZero initiative has become a catalyst for progress to help scale up the supply, demand, and support for low-carbon hydrogen. 

In its pledge, Trane Technologies commits to incorporate all clean energy solutions, including those based on low-carbon hydrogen, into business and manufacturing strategy to meet its 2030 Gigaton Challenge, science-based scope 1, 2, and 3 goals, and net-zero targets. 

Additionally, six fellow pledging companies disclosed their most recent advancements. Iberdrola, Acciona, Shell, Anglo American, Hinicio and Yosemite Clean Energy have reached important milestones on their journey to honor their commitments either by advancing and replicating the development of renewable hydrogen and its derivatives worldwide (Iberdrola, Acciona, Shell), engineering world-class low-carbon hydrogen technologies (Anglo American), updating the figures of their original pledge regarding their daily production of fuel cell grade hydrogen (Yosemite Clean Energy), or growing expertise in the field of hydrogen and e-fuels certification (Hinicio). 

Today, 35 companies representing different sectors – from mining to energy, vehicle and equipment manufacturers, and financial services – have made H2ForNetZero pledges. According to Hydrogen Council estimates, if all the pledges submitted to date were to be realized in full, they would account for about one-quarter of the decarbonization potential envisioned through hydrogen by 2030.  

While this progress shows promising potential, more work is needed to secure new participants and enable companies to overcome the challenges and barriers they face in fostering progress in their pledges, such as supply chain constraints, permitting challenges and technical development hurdles. For instance, a statement issued by GenComm, pledging under H2forNetZero, highlighted the need to persevere in the efforts to nurture the initiative. GenComm finds itself at “the confluence of many issues within the electrolysis supply chain and these are all providing cumulative cause for concern”. 

By supporting companies with existing pledges and encouraging companies to make new pledges under the initiative, WBCSD and SMI aim to help strengthen the demand for and supply of low-carbon hydrogen.   

H2forNetZero will help position hydrogen as a key solution in society’s ability to achieve net-zero energy emissions by 2050 by stimulating further investments and advancements in the hydrogen market and economy.  

WBCSD and SMI continue their efforts to bring forth new commitments from companies that aim to make low-carbon hydrogen part of their decarbonization strategy. 

The fully updated pledges and Trane Technologies’ newly disclosed pledge are available on WBCSD website at the H2ForNetZero initiative webpage.