Ensuring a Just Energy Transition through Hydrogen: How the G20 can Support Africa

Image: Getty, Olemedia
Image: Getty, Olemedia

Africa is well positioned to become a major hub in the global production of green hydrogen. This policy insight explores G20 members’ recognition of green hydrogen as a key technology in decarbonising hard-to-abate carbon-intensive industries.

Summary:

  • The Italian G20 Presidency in 2020 for the first time explicitly recognised ‘the inextricable nexus between climate change and energy’, resulting in a series of joint ministerial meetings involving the Climate Sustainability Working Group and the Energy Transition Working Group.
  • Green hydrogen was first mooted as a key enabling energy mode to progress towards net-zero emissions under the Japanese G20 Presidency in 2019.
  • Africa’s abundant sun exposure means that the continent could become a reliable source of renewable energy and thus a valuable player in global green hydrogen energy value chains.
  • Africa’s potential to become a key hub for green hydrogen production is underpinned by its geographic competitive advantage, well-established regional power pools and the movement towards free trade in goods and services under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.
  • G20 member commitments to supporting climate-friendly infrastructure development and an enabling environment for green hydrogen production are an important opportunity to unlock the green hydrogen value chain in Africa.
The views expressed in this publication/article are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA).