Partners
About this Summit
Countries across the world are looking to hydrogen to help decarbonise energy systems. There’s already broad agreement that hydrogen has a key role to play in reaching net zero. There’s also technical and engineering understanding and know-how. So what are the next steps that need to be taken to deploy hydrogen with urgency? How can different countries and projects learn from each other without repeating work and research already done? And how can developing nations skip over heavy-carbon energy and move to cost effective hydrogen from renewables?
At the Hydrogen Transition Summit, we focused on: ‘What are the benefits and compromises to be made in making hydrogen economies a reality?’
We heard from influential international speakers working on hydrogen projects and programmes as well as those developing energy and financial policies.
This Hydrogen Transition Summit was a full-day of presentations and discussions on hydrogen: from industry, transport, policy and finance through to energy decarbonisation and carbon capture. Sessions shared innovations, ideas and case studies.
The Summit was an ideal platform for investors, project developers, policymakers and innovators to share insights and expertise and highlight
Speakers
João Pedro Matos Fernandes
Minister for the Environment and Climate Action
Portugal
Michael Matheson
Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero – Energy and Transport
Scottish Government
Rosalinde van der Vlies
Director of the Clean Planet Directorate
Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Energy Association (FCHEA)
Ms Rosalinde van der Vlies, is the Director of the Clean Planet Directorate in the European Commission’s, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation. Before her appointment as Director, Ms van der Vlies was the Head of Coordination & Interinstitutional Relations Unit, and acting Head of Communication & Citizens Unit.
Previously she held positions in Directorate-General Environment, Directorate-General Justice and Home Affairs, and in the private office of Janez Potočnik, the European Commissioner for the environment. Before joining the European Commission, she worked as a competition lawyer in an international law firm in Brussels and was a part-time teacher at the Catholic University in Brussels.
Filippo Gaddo
Director of Energy Investor Advisory Team
ARUP
Dr Tony Ballance
Chief Strategy and Regulation Officer
Cadent Gas
Dr Tony Ballance is Cadent’s Chief Regulation Officer, leading the organisation in managing regulation and progressing regulatory reform for the benefit of business and the wider sector. He has extensive experience in utility policy and regulation, and has previously held roles as a consultant and economist.
Seifi Ghasemi
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Air Products
Seifi Ghasemi became chairman, president and chief executive officer of Air Products in July 2014. In this role, he is focused on setting the strategy and policies of the company, developing leadership, and meeting shareholder commitments.
Mr. Ghasemi is a member of The Business Council, an association of the chief executive officers of the world’s most important business enterprises. In 2020, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum. In 2019 he was elected to the Board of Directors of the US-China Business Council. Mr. Ghasemi also was the recipient of the 2017 biennial International Palladium Medal from the Société de Chimie Industrielle for his distinguished contributions to the chemical industry.
Prior to joining Air Products, from 2001-2014, Mr. Ghasemi served as chairman and chief executive officer of Rockwood Holdings, a global leader in inorganic specialty chemicals and advanced materials that was acquired by Albemarle Corporation in January 2015. From 1997-2001, he held leadership roles at GKN, a global industrial company, including positions as director of the Main Board of GKN, plc, and chairman and chief executive officer of GKN Sinter Metals, Inc. and Hoeganes Corporation. Earlier in his career, Mr. Ghasemi spent nearly 20 years with The BOC Group (the industrial gas company which is now part of Linde AG) in positions including director of the Main Board of BOC Group, plc; president of BOC Gases Americas; and chairman and chief executive officer of BOC Process Plants, Ltd. and Cryostar.
Mr. Ghasemi earned his undergraduate degree from Abadan Institute of Technology and holds an M.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University. He also was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Lafayette College in 2017 and an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from Stevens Institute of Technology in 2018.
Stephan Sicars
Managing Director
UNIDO
After a year at the National Research Council Canada, he worked for, and then managed, the Research Centre for Refrigeration and Heat Pumps in Germany.
Later, he headed his own consultancy undertaking research for international industries, NGOs and governments. He implemented projects in India and China, and was part of delegations to the Montreal Protocol and its Multilateral Fund. He served as a technical expert on several international panels.
In 2004, he started work in the United Nations as Senior Programme Officer with the Multilateral Fund.
Joining UNIDO in 2014, he became Director of the Department of Environment in 2015. In that role, he focused the department on reduction of emissions of Greenhouse Gases and of industrial pollution, and on circular economy. Since June 2020, he is Managing Director of the Directorate of Environment and Energy in UNIDO.
He was recognized for his contribution, as coordinating lead author for IPCC, to the Nobel Peace Prize 2007, and has received an US-EPA Ozone Award.
Mr. Sicars holds the equivalent of a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Hanover, Germany.
Franz Lehner
Head of Division International Cooperation
National Organisation Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NOW GmbH)
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Event hosted and organised by
The Innovation Zone organised by Climate Action in partnership with Scottish Enterprise is a powerful example of the importance of public-private partnerships in addressing climate change. The Zone placed innovation and investment at the heart of COP26 to accelerate the pathway to net zero and achieve a just transition. The Innovation Zone was built on Cessnock Quay, Glasgow, owned by Scottish Enterprise, located approximately 300 metres from the COP26 Green Zone.