idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
The industrial sector accounts for roughly a quarter of global CO₂ emissions, with steel, cement, and chemicals among the most challenging to decarbonize. Transitioning these sectors requires coordinated investments across value chains and difficult choices among competing technological pathways. Low-emission hydrogen is widely expected to play a pivotal role as both energy carrier and feedstock, but its deployment demands extensive technological and infrastructural change. The resulting transformations are likely to reshape industrial structures, trade relations and global value chains, with important implications for developing and emerging economies that could become major suppliers of green or blue hydrogen.
This conference will take stock of new research on the opportunities and challenges arising from industrial decarbonization and the ramp-up of low-emission hydrogen, with a particular emphasis on implications for inclusive and sustainable development in low- and middle-income countries. It will explore five interrelated themes: (1) opportunities for value creation and industrial policy; (2) the political economy of decarbonization and hydrogen investments; (3) the reconfiguration of global value chains and emerging geoeconomics; (4) governance, sustainability and benefit-sharing; and (5) technology choice and uncertainty.
By combining perspectives from economics, social & political science, and sustainability research, the conference seeks to identify the conditions under which industrial decarbonization and hydrogen development can generate transformative societal Outcomes.
Programme
Tuesday, 28 October 2025
09:00 – 09:30: Check-in and welcome coffee
09:30 – 09:40: Welcoming remarks by organisers
09:40 – 10:40: Navigating a New Era in the clean hydrogen economy: Geopolitical forces and their
ripples
Susana Moreira (H2Global Foundation, Germany)
10:45 – 11:45: Parallel sessions A: A.1. Value Creation and Industrial Policies I - A.2 Political Economy of Decarbonization I - A.3 Reconfiguration of Global Value Chains I
11:45 – 12:00: Coffee break
12:00 – 13:00: Parallel sessions B: B.1 Value Creation and Industrial Policies II - B.2 Political Economy of Decarbonization II - B.3 Reconfiguration of Global Value Chains II
13:00 – 14:00: Lunch break
14:00 – 15:00: Parallel sessions C: C.1 Value Creation and Industrial Policies III - C.2 Technology and Uncertainty
15:05 – 16:05: Parallel sessions D – MENA Edition: D.1 Value Creation and Industrial Policies IV - D.2 Political Economy of Decarbonization III - D.3 Governance and Benefit-Sharing I
16:05 – 16:25: Coffee break
16:25 – 17:25: Hydrogen strategies in the Gulf region: What explains the differences?
Steven Griffiths (Sharjah University, UAE)
17:25 – 18:25: Panel discussion: Hydrogen perspectives in the MENA region, considering the political
economy
- Dawud Al-Ansari (President, Majan Council, Oman)
- Steffen Hertog (Professor in Comparative Politics, London School of Economics, UK)
- Badr Ikken (CEO, Green Innov Industry Investment; former Director General, IRESEN, Morocco)
- Moderator: Amirah El Haddad (IDOS, Germany)
Wednesday, 29 October, 2025
09:00 – 10:00: Policy instruments for ramping up hydrogen
Joseph Cordonnier (OECD, France)
10:00 – 10:10: International partnerships and sustainability governance in the hydrogen sector
Federal Foreign Office (tbc)
10:10 – 11:10: Panel discussion: From hype to hard facts: navigating the hydrogen ramp-up amid a
changing geopolitical and economic landscape
- Kirsten Westphal (Executive Board Member, BDEW-German Association of Energy
and Water Industries, Germany)
- Gonzalo Escribano (Director, Energy and Climate Change Programme, Elcano Royal
Institute, Spain)
- Susana Moreira (Executive Director, H2 Global, Germany)
- Hemant Mallya (CEEW, India)
- Moderator: Rainer Quitzow (RIFS, Germany)
11:10 – 11:30: Coffee Break
11:30 – 12:30: Parallel sessions E: E.1 Value Creation and Industrial Policies V - E.2 Political Economy of Decarbonization IV - E.3 Governance, Sustainability
and Benefit-Sharing II
12:30 – 13:30: Lunch break
13:30 – 13:50: Investing in green hydrogen: Perspectives from a global industry leader
Mark Freymueller (Hyundai Commercial Vehicles and Hydrogen Business Europe)
13:50 – 15:30: Panel discussion: Frontiers of Industrial Decarbonisation: Industrial Policies, Business
Strategies and Finance for Green Hydrogen
- Pamela Mondliwa (Head of Research and Planning, Industrial Development
Corporation (IDC), South Africa)
- Gabriel Aidar (Deputy Director of Planning and Research, Brazilian Development
Bank (BNDES), Brazil)
- Ha-Joon Chang (Co-Director CSST, SOAS University of London)
- Mark Freymueller (CEO, Hyundai Commercial Vehicles and Hydrogen Business
Europe)
- Moderator: Antonio Andreoni (Co-Director CSST, SOAS University of London)
15:30 – 15:50: Coffee break
15:50 – 16:50: Exploring community impacts, just transitions, and conceptual frontiers for industrial
decarbonization and net-zero societies
Benjamin K. Sovacool (University of Boston & University of Sussex)
16:55 – 17:55: Parallel sessions F: F.1 Value Creation and Industrial Policies VI - F.2 Political Economy of Decarbonization V - F.3 Reconfiguration of Global Value Chains III
18:00 Closing remarks
Information on participating / attending:
Medienvertretende melden sich bitte vorab bei der Pressestelle des RIFS an!
Date:
10/28/2025 09:30 - 10/29/2025 18:30
Registration deadline:
10/27/2025
Event venue:
Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) at GFZ
Berliner Str. 130
14467 Potsdam
14467 Potsdam
Brandenburg
Germany
Target group:
Journalists
Email address:
Relevance:
international
Subject areas:
Economics / business administration, Energy, Politics
Types of events:
Conference / symposium / (annual) conference, Press conferences
Entry:
10/07/2025
Sender/author:
Forschungsinstitut für Nachhaltigkeit (RIFS) am GFZ | Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) at GFZ
Department:
RIFS Presse und Kommunikation
Event is free:
yes
Language of the text:
English
URL of this event: http://idw-online.de/en/event80189
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