Green Hydrogen from Below and from Above. Providing a Reality Check while Sharing Experiences

Workshop on Shared Energy Futures

BY: HANS-CHRISTIAN MAHNKE, 19 September 2024 | From 28 to 30 August 2024, over 40 Namibian and South African community activists and CSOs gathered in Windhoek to learn more about Green Hydrogen under the workshop theme “Shared Energy Futures: Civil society and community voices on Green Hydrogen”. The workshop took place in Windhoek and was organised by the Namibia Development Trust, Economic and Social Justice Trust and Frack Free Namibia, with support from the Heinrich Boell Foundation, Cape Town Office. The participants came from areas affected by Green Hydrogen developments in Namibia and South Africa.

Namibian participants included Civic+264, LAC, IPPR, NDT, ESJT, CCN, MUN, TUCNA, FrackFree Namibia, Rights Not Rescue Trust, various conservancy representatives, the Erongo Regional Conservancy Association, Hanganeni Artisanal Fishing Association, NNF, WWF,  Nama Traditional Leadership Association (NTLA), Youth4Can, Namibia Environment and Wildlife Society (NEWS), Namibia Conservancy Chairpersons Association, Southern Natural Resources Management Association, and NACSO from Namibia. South African participants included Natural Justice, Earthlife Africa, groundwork, WoMIN, all of whom are also members of Hydrogen Watch South Africa.

Overall, the workshop aimed to amplify civil society and community voices on Green Hydrogen (GH2) developments, so that they feature in and shape the conversation on the subject in the context of the Global Hydrogen summit, scheduled for one week later.  Towards this, the workshop facilitated the exchange of expertise regarding green hydrogen in general, GH2 sector plans in Namibia and South Africa, and experiences on the ground. secondly to amplify the voices of civil society and frontline communities. It was hoped that discussion would explore questions about what conditions would enable Green Hydrogen to contribute to a ‘win-win’ outcome for all affected parties, and how viable those options would be.

The 3-day workshop opened with a day dedicated to understanding the plans ‘from above’ for green hydrogen developments in Namibia, alongside the experiences of communities ‘from below’ of these efforts. For the latter, community representatives and civil society worked in groups to build up information about projects in their regions, which were then mapped for a more complete picture to emerge. It was particularly striking how in many cases, people living close to projects had little information in general about the proposed development, but also of one another’s experiences, or who else would be impacted. For example, residents nearby inland GH2 developments had not engaged with coastal residents who would host desalination plants to supply those GH2 projects. In the second half of the day, GH2 Commissioner James Mnyupe and the Head of Impact and ESC at the Namibia Green Hydrogen Programme, Eline van der Linden provided an overview of the state’s plans and interests. The engagement highlighted significant concerns regarding the legally required consultation with interested and affected parties, particularly the reliance on digital platforms that the majority do not have access to, the tendency to conflate ‘road shows’ (that promoted GH2 developments) with consultations with Interested and affected parties based on the EMA requirements, and the general shortcomings of EIA processes. The Commissioner acknowledged that given the pressure to develop the sector at speed, consultations did not take place when it should have, and committed to rectifying the situation and ensuring future engagements are inclusive. Further serious concerns raised included the absence of guiding legislation to appoint a GH Commissioner and the lack of a GH2 specific holistic legislation to regulate this new industry. While the Commissioner listened to concerns about poor labour conditions in GH2 developments, he argued that it was beyond the scope of the commission to address such issues.

Going forward, the Commissioner offered an ‘open door policy’ to his office, and acknowledged that the GH Council should  improve on consulting with civil society actors.

The programme included discussions about Green hydrogen and its impact on land, water, and biodiversity, as well as its possible contribution to a just energy transition. Professor Grynberg and Zaffar Husain from Agora think tank presented their assessments of the economic viability of Green Hydrogen and whether it could contribute to job creation, while Gregory Huseb reflected on his community’s experiences of efforts towards benefit sharing through both green hydrogen and other activities, and what lessons these offered. Discussions also covered questions of existing gaps in the legal framework regarding the molecule, as well as IPPR’s proposal to apply Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) principles and approaches to governing the sector as a form of enhancing good governance, building trust and ensuring greater transparency and multistakeholder participation.

Questions of history, heritage and development were also highlighted. A special screening of “Shark Island”, a 2024 produced documentary by Forensic Architects and the NTLA, focused discussions  on the remains of the German colonial concentration camp on the island (which is by now a peninsula), and the plans to further encircle it by expanding Robert Harbour in Luderitz to accommodate emerging industries, including GH2.

 The workshop ended with the developments of recommendations for how the GH2 Council could improve their work, as well as discussions among CSOs themselves around they could work better. In particular, CSOs see the need for Parliament to amend the Environmental Management Act and its regulations to improve consultations with interested and affected parties, as well as for the Council to undertake due diligence and research in a variety of areas prior to committing to projects. The CSOs also tasked themselves to improve communication among themselves and to establish sustainable communication and feedback channels with local communities.

Workshop organisers were also able to secure 10 free tickets for CSO representatives to attend the Global Hydrogen Africa Summit, with the hope that outcomes of the workshop discussions could also find their way to the Summit itself. Feedback from attendees will be provided in due course.

*This article was submitted by Hans Christian Mahnke (hcm.namibia@gmail.com) for the workshop convened by the Economic & Social Justice Trust (ESJT), Frack Free Namibia, and the Namibia Development Trust (NDT), with support from the Heinrich Böll Foundation. It is part of the call for submissions for the September edition of the CIVIC BEAT Newsletter.