Hydrogen Criteria Background Paper

The report outlines the development of certification criteria for hydrogen assets, focusing on carbon intensity benchmarks, life-cycle assessment methodologies, and climate resilience requirements to align investments with the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C goal.

• The Climate Bonds Initiative has established a starting carbon intensity benchmark of below 3 kgCO2eq/kgH2 for low-carbon hydrogen production, which represents a 73% reduction compared to traditional fossil-based processes.
• To align with a near-zero trajectory by 2050, the carbon intensity thresholds will follow a sliding scale: 3.0 kgCO2e/kgH2 in 2023, 1.5 kgCO2e/kgH2 by 2030, 0.7 kgCO2e/kgH2 by 2040, and 0 kgCO2e/kgH2 by 2050.
• The GHG accounting methodology employs a cradle-to-site life cycle assessment (LCA) approach, incorporating Scope 1, Scope 2, and specific Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and transportation to the site of use.
• To prevent carbon lock-in, new facilities are permitted to use fossil resources only if they are combined with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) or Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) technologies until 2035.
• For electrolytic hydrogen, the criteria include additionality requirements to ensure that renewable electricity used does not divert generation needed to decarbonise the grid, allowing for a temporal correlation evaluation period of one month.
• Certain end-uses are explicitly excluded from the criteria due to the existence of more efficient decarbonisation pathways, specifically urban heating, light mobility, and electricity storage.
• The criteria exclude hydrogen produced from coal to avoid carbon lock-in and other environmental impacts, as well as hydrogen from nuclear energy due to a lack of existing Climate Bonds criteria for nuclear generation.
• Hydrogen delivery projects are eligible if they demonstrate that they will be used exclusively for low-carbon hydrogen purposes, as there is currently a lack of standardised methodologies to quantify emissions for every delivery pathway.
• The Adaptation & Resilience (A&R) component requires assets to be assessed for their resilience to climate change and their impact on surrounding systems, using a verification list based on a typical asset lifetime of 30 years.
• To address water scarcity, the criteria require a water management plan and a local water availability assessment rather than excluding specific regions, acknowledging that desalination can enable production in arid areas like the Atacama Desert.

APA

Climate Bonds Initiative (2023). Hydrogen Criteria Background Paper. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/background-paper-hydrogen-production-and-delivery-draft-for-public-consultation-100823.pdf

Chicago

Climate Bonds Initiative. Hydrogen Criteria Background Paper. 2023. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/background-paper-hydrogen-production-and-delivery-draft-for-public-consultation-100823.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Bonds Initiative |title=Hydrogen Criteria Background Paper |date=August 2023 |url=https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/background-paper-hydrogen-production-and-delivery-draft-for-public-consultation-100823.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatebondsinitiative2023hydrogen, author = {{Climate Bonds Initiative}}, title = {{Hydrogen Criteria Background Paper}}, institution = {Climate Bonds Initiative}, year = {2023}, month = aug, url = {https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/background-paper-hydrogen-production-and-delivery-draft-for-public-consultation-100823.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }