Fuelling the Future 2026

Lever Public-private collaboration Public-private collaboration mechanisms help unlock viable clean fuel business cases by coordinating complementary public and private capabilities to de- risk, mobilize finance and accelerate deployment. They are particularly valuable in the early-market phase, helping demonstrate commercial feasibility, pool risks and establish shared infrastructure before private investment and organic demand can scale up independently. Supply and demand matching Supply-demand matching mechanisms improve market coordination by aligning producers and buyers to provide the revenue visibility and certainty required to attract investment and scale up clean fuel markets. Demand-pooling platforms, such as the World Economic Forum’s First Movers Coalition, aggregate commitments from multiple buyers to create larger, credible volumes and reduce transaction costs. Book-and-claim systems expand market access by decoupling environmental attributes from physical delivery, allowing buyers to claim verified emissions reductions while sourcing fuels produced elsewhere. This can be particularly important for aviation and shipping, for instance where crossing national borders and continents is core to operations. Double-sided auctions provide producers with long-term revenue certainty and buyers with flexibility and price discovery, by linking long-term supply contracts to short-term resale through competitive bidding on both sides. Together, these tools expand market access, reduce risk and create early demand signals to unlock investment and accelerate clean fuel deployment. Concessional financing Concessional financing and other energy transition financing mechanisms lower the cost of capital and share risk between public and private investors, making early clean fuel projects investable, crowding- in private capital and accelerating scale-up. Blended finance structures combine public or philanthropic funding with commercial capital to improve risk- return profiles and attract institutional investors. First-loss capital and loan guarantees further de-risk investment by absorbing initial losses or backstopping lenders against default, protecting investors and crowding-in private capital. Green bonds, transition bonds and infrastructure support, such as co-investment in transport or storage assets, reduces costs across value chains and improves overall market viability. Together, these mechanisms lower financing barriers, mobilize private capital and support investments until sectors can sustain investment on commercial terms. Hub and corridor models Hub and corridor models help overcome first- mover barriers: developers are reluctant to build capacity without guaranteed demand, while offtakers hesitate to commit without reliable supply or supporting infrastructure – particularly where new engines or assets are required. By concentrating early activity within defined geographies such as industrial clusters or trade routes, hub and corridor models bring together producers, users, infrastructure providers and policy-makers to coordinate supply, demand and logistics, reducing risk and building confidence for initial investment. The World Economic Forum’s Transitioning Industrial Clusters initiative is one example of such efforts. Focused deployment accelerates learning, lowers costs through shared infrastructure and demonstrates commercial feasibility. Through public-private collaboration, these models also help align regulation, harmonize standards and create replicable blueprints for scaling-up clean fuels across regions and sectors. Hub and corridor models bring together producers, users, infrastructure providers and policy-makers to coordinate supply, demand and logistics, building confidence for investors.2 Fuelling the Future: How Business, Finance and Policy can Accelerate the Clean Fuels Market 28