Green Hydrogen and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals - GH2 and UN SDG

SDG 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impact.

We are not on track. Emissions continue to rise and concentrations of carbon dioxide are at their highest level in two million years. The role of green hydrogen in addressing this problem is of course to state the obvious. The whole point of the green hydrogen economy is to create a supply chain of emissions free energy. We must however be careful even here. Renewable energy is not totally free from emissions and there will be some when green hydrogen and its derivatives are produced, transported and used. With the hydrogen economy forecast to grow rapidly to as much as a quarter of final energy use, every step of the way has to have the lowest possible associated emissions. This is why standards, tax rules and product regulations are so important, to be genuinely aligned with 1.5 degree pathways.

SDG 7: Ensure access to affordable reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

The green hydrogen economy must contribute to reducing energy poverty, and address the fact that nearly a billion people do not have access to electricity and 3 billion (40% of the world) do not have access to clean fuels for cooking. It can do this by contributing to bringing renewable power to the grid in developing countries and emerging economies, driving down costs and driving up energy access.

This is why it is critically important that multilateral development banks and others heed on development finance for the green hydrogen economy. The building of the large-scale renewable energy and green hydrogen economy has to happen urgently in developing countries and emerging economies.

SDG 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

The green hydrogen economy, requiring significant amounts of water, likely to often come from desalination, could result in a massive scale-up of desalination capacity. This scaling-up is likely to bring considerable cost reductions. Individual projects financed by the production of green hydrogen could be scaled to make desalinated water available for the local population, as is currently the plan by Hyphen in Namibia.

SDG 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Production of green hydrogen for domestic consumption and export in six African countries could create up to 4.2 million new jobs as estimated in a report by the Africa Green Hydrogen Alliance (AGHA) with support from McKinsey.

SDG 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation.

The SDG progress report confirms that investing in advanced technologies and lowering carbon emissions is essential to sustainable industrialisation. Green hydrogen can play an important role with constant innovation and efficiency improvements in the production of large-scale renewable energy, electrolysers, conversion into ammonia, in how we make steel and many other products without significant emissions. The green hydrogen economy is not just about using, storing and transporting renewable energy. It will move industrial activities. It has the potential to bring industrialisation to countries so far left behind.

SDG 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere.

We are not on track here either. António Guterres pointed out that the number of people living in extreme poverty today is higher than it was four years ago. On current trends, only 30 percent of all countries will achieve SDG 1 on poverty by 2030.

Some of the world’s poorest countries and countries with significant poor populations have enormous renewable energy and green hydrogen potential. The green hydrogen economy is also likely to bring industries with it, such as steel production and ports.

This is why it is important that hosting governments from the outset work together with development partners to establish fiscal regimes and legislation which generates long-term economic and financial benefits. A long-term stable investment climate balances the private sector’s needs for competitive conditions with the government’s longer term needs for revenue generation. 

SDG 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

Hunger in the world has increased and is back at 2005 levels. Green hydrogen can be converted to ammonia and used to make fertilisers. This green fertilisers could be produced near markets in countries with renewable energy sources and increase food security. Today, most fertilisers rely on access to natural gas and are produced with significant greenhouse gas emissions. By using renewable energy and green hydrogen, the food supply chain becomes a significant step closer to being free of fossil fuel dependence.

Current gas-based fertiliser production is also centralised in a relatively small number of locations, and is price sensitive to the price of gas. This contributes to undermining food security in countries reliant on imports of fertilisers. This is why the international community needs to work with the private sector to urgently scale up large-scale renewable energy capacity and the production of green fertilisers in developing countries and emerging economies.