Antalya, Türkiye – November 11th 2026, COP31 – Climate Impulse welcomes today the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA) and the Green Hydrogen Organisation (GH2) as Institutional Partners.
The project, led by Swiss explorer and cleantech pioneer Bertrand Piccard and navigator-composite engineer Raphaël Dinelli, aims to achieve the first non-stop, zero-emission flight around the world, aboard an electric airplane powered by green hydrogen.
The partnerships were announced at COP31 where the Türkiye COP Presidency has made electrification and industrial decarbonisation implementation priorities.
Taking clean energy further
Ten years after Solar Impulse flew around the world on solar energy, Bertrand Piccard, along with Raphaël Dinelli, is preparing a new first: completing 40,000 kilometres in nine days, non-stop, with zero emissions. Joining forces with Climate Impulse, the GRA and GH2 send one clear message: transitioning away from fossil fuels is within reach, even in the most hard-to-abate sectors.
At COP31, Climate Impulse sets out to embody the “Double Down, Triple Up” agenda, built on the COP28 goals of tripling renewable capacity and doubling energy efficiency by 2030, and the global “Electrify Now” initiative. The airplane will bring the three levers together: it will fly on renewable electricity, stored on board as green liquid hydrogen and converted back into electricity by fuel cells to drive its electric motors, with no combustion.
Flying nine days non-stop without refuelling will demand efficiency at every stage: every gram and every bit of drag count in the airplane’s design, its routing will be optimised, and its fuel cells are designed to perform well above the market average.
An alignment of convictions
For the GRA, which brings together the wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal, green hydrogen and energy storage industries, the partnership is a natural fit: the airplane’s entire energy chain begins with renewable electricity. Without renewables, there is no green hydrogen, and without green hydrogen, no zero-emission flight. Climate Impulse sets out to demonstrate how far renewable energy can go: around the world, non-stop, in one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise. Bruce Douglas, CEO of the GRA, joins the project as one of its first Ambassadors.
For GH2, itself a member of the GRA, whose mission is to accelerate the production and use of green hydrogen as a cornerstone of the energy transition, the partnership rests on the same conviction. While batteries work best for light transport, green hydrogen is essential for heavy applications like aviation, shipping, and steel. Scaling green hydrogen is critical to building the confidence, demand, and cost reductions needed to unlock long-term industrial competitiveness. By proving the viability of the technology in extreme conditions, Climate Impulse hopes to encourage more players to take the leap.
A flagship for the energy transition, backed by a growing coalition
Designed to break with tradition and challenge the status quo, the zero-emission airplane embodies the pioneering spirit that enabled Solar Impulse to achieve what once seemed impossible. Climate Impulse aims to push past conventional boundaries, proving in extreme conditions what clean technology can deliver while inspiring the public and decision-makers to raise global climate ambitions.
Built with the support of aeronautical collaborators, it is also designed as a sky laboratory, testing technologies which could then be taken up in aviation, heavy transport, shipping and energy.
The GRA and GH2 join a project placed under the official patronage of the European Commission, and is developed with main partners Syensqo, OCP Group and Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) and official partners Breitling and Orange. Climate Impulse welcomes other organisations that share this ambition to join.
The Global Renewables Alliance (GRA) is a global alliance of renewable energy industry associations. It works with governments, industry, investors and other stakeholders to advance the policies, partnerships and investment needed to accelerate renewable energy deployment in line with the global 3xRenewables target to deliver secure, competitive and resilient energy systems.
Founded by the Global Wind Energy Council, the Global Solar Council, the Green Hydrogen Organisation, the International Geothermal Association, the International Hydropower Association, and the Long Duration Energy Storage Council, GRA provides a unified voice across wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal, green hydrogen, energy storage and grids.
