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Namibia has captivated global attention with its daring aspirations to become a green hydrogen leader.
Presented by Namibian authorities as a silver bullet to both job creation and progressive climate action, the Dâures Green Hydrogen Village (poised to become Africa’s first 100% net-zero green community) and Hyphen Hydrogen Energy’s US$10-billion (about N$183 billion) project at the Tsau //Khaeb National Park are the poster children for Namibia’s green hydrogen dreams.
Most Namibians are sceptical. Some of the scepticism is because of a legitimate inability to decipher the complicated industry jargon.
Some of the scepticism emanates from the logistical concerns – green hydrogen is a highly flammable gas which is notoriously difficult to transport due to its low volumetric energy density.
What I’ve decided to coin the green hydrogen ‘spectrum of sentiment’ ranges from staunch enthusiast to devoted critic.
Regardless of your position on the spectrum, we must all be invested in ensuring that Namibia is not reduced to a pawn in the global geopolitical chessboard of decarbonisation and net zero targets.
Green hydrogen is a promising decarbonisation pathway – if well executed.
Namibia’s green hydrogen dreams are being financed by the German Economic Affairs and Climate Ministry and the European Union. Japan is also an apparent trade partner.
While these developments are promising, they implore reflection about Namibia’s relational agency in green hydrogen partnerships.
History is abundant with examples of developing countries which have been reduced to political, economic and socio-technical fodder for the Global North.
Economic geography researchers Benedikt Walker and Linus Kalvelage offer a helpful analytical starting point to conceptualise Namibia’s green hydrogen trade relations.
Walker and Kalvelage frame decarbonisation as a state project from which ‘extraterritorial institutions’ emerge.
These institutions, defined as organisations that are not controlled by actors in the territories where they operate, strategically and proactively shape dynamics abroad by derisking, creating assets and establishing a market.
Indeed, extraterritorial institutions must coordinate state-state interests while respecting sovereign territorial rights of the host country.
At the risk of negating Namibia’s position as an autonomous, self-determining state with its own independent vision for climate action, the apparent free lunches dished out for green hydrogen development illustrate how global extraterritorial institutions are subtly and effectively reshaping sovereignty through green hydrogen climate finance mobilisation.
Trade partners like Germany are wielding strategic bargaining power in relation to their investments and technical expertise in the country’s green hydrogen vision.
Obviously, bilateral agreements for capital intensive climate projects are not a new or unique phenomenon in international trade.
However, we cannot deny the political awkwardness of staking the bulk of our climate ambitions on our former imperial power.
Outsourcing net zero environmental policy creates a push-and-pull between external priorities and Namibia’s own developmental ambitions.
The involvement of powerful foreign actors means that key decisions about land use, resource allocation and energy exports are no longer solely in Namibia’s hands.
Germany has stressed it would only import excess energy that Namibia doesn’t use for domestic consumption.
However, this interest in Namibia’s green hydrogen industry must not be misinterpreted as a noble, self-sacrificing act on the part of the international community.
In an active effort to meet its climate targets and decarbonise its hard-to-abate sectors like heavy shipping or aviation, Germany cannot produce enough green hydrogen domestically to satisfy its energy demand.
The country’s import strategy outlines a framework to meet predicted demand for hydrogen and its derivatives, which the government is estimating to reach 95 to 130 terawatt hours by 2030.About 50% to 70% of this demand is expected to be met by imports, making Germany one of the world’s largest hydrogen importers in the future.
True partnerships require Namibia to take an assertive role in defining the terms of collaborative, dignified trade.
Without clear policies and frameworks, Namibia risks becoming overly dependent on external partners who may prioritise their own decarbonisation goals over the country’s broader economic and broader development goals.
Bertha Tobias is a Rhodes Scholar pursuing a full-time master’s of science in environment, enterprise and sustainability at Oxford University. Contact her at bertha.tobias@sant.ox.ac.uk
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