Bernhard Kotsch, State Secretary at the Federal Foreign Office, and Bernhard Kluttig, Director-General at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, opened the forum.
In his remarks, Kotsch emphasised that the core pillars of German foreign policy — security, freedom and prosperity — are closely linked to the energy transition. He stressed that climate protection and energy security must align. He also emphasised the importance of coordinated action across ministries to strengthen Europe’s hydrogen economy. Kluttig highlighted hydrogen’s dual role as a key enabler of decarbonisation and energy sovereignty. Drawing on Germany’s energy transition monitoring, he stressed its importance for achieving climate targets while reinforcing industrial resilience. At the same time, he called for a more pragmatic and flexible approach to the hydrogen ramp-up, including efforts at EU level to simplify regulatory frameworks, reduce administrative burdens, and revisit overly restrictive provisions in the delegated act on renewable hydrogen.
In parallel, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development hosted a session moderated by Evita Schmieg (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development), featuring contributions from Gregor Paterson-Jones (GET.invest), Christoph de Beer (SASOL), and Benedikt Messner (Uniper Global Commodities). Discussions centred on Contracts for Difference (CfDs) as a key instrument for hydrogen market ramp-up, highlighting their potential to provide revenue certainty and improve cost-efficiency. The session also marked the launch of a new white paper on CfD mechanisms to support EU strategic renewable hydrogen, developed by the Green Hydrogen Business Alliance in cooperation with GET.invest.
At the same time, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy convened a closed-door session with European technology providers, focusing on the state of play of the sector, the importance of scaling production and strengthening long-term partnerships, as well as the need to balance local content requirements with overall project competitiveness.
Closing the event, Oliver Rentschler, Director-General for Geoeconomics at the Federal Foreign Office, underlined that hydrogen will remain a central element of the global energy transition. He emphasised that strengthening Europe’s position will require strategic coordination, international cooperation, and decisive action to align competitiveness with decarbonisation while reducing geopolitical dependencies.
The Future Forum Green Hydrogen 2026 reaffirmed hydrogen’s role as both a climate solution and a strategic industrial priority. As global competition intensifies, Europe’s success will depend on its ability to combine clear policy frameworks, strong partnerships, and scalable market mechanisms to build a resilient and competitive hydrogen economy.
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Photo credits: Hanns Schmelzer.