Assessing safeguards for hydrogen sustainability in the H2Global mechanism

This research paper by the NewClimate Institute evaluates the H2Global mechanism and its pilot tender funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). The study finds that while the pilot tender incorporates some EU-aligned sustainability requirements, the overall mechanism lacks minimum standards, creating risks of variability in climate and sustainable development impacts. The analysis highlights gaps in safeguards regarding competing water and land use, the absence of incentives for surplus electricity sharing, and limited potential for sustainable local economic value creation due to the mechanism's export-focused design.

• The H2Global mechanism lacks universal minimum standards for tenders, making the sustainability ambition of future projects dependent on the specific objectives of individual funders. This creates potential variability in how the mechanism affects global climate and sustainable development goals.
• The BMWK pilot tender aligns with EU regulations on additionality, temporal correlation, and geographical correlation for renewable electricity sourcing. However, it fails to incentivise projects to share surplus electricity to support domestic decarbonisation or local energy access.
• Water sustainability safeguards in the BMWK pilot tender prohibit using groundwater or water for human consumption in dry regions, but they do not account for competing industrial or agricultural water demands. Additionally, there is no requirement for the additionality of desalination plants or water treatment facilities.
• Land use safeguards in the BMWK pilot tender protect globally recognised high-biodiversity areas and carbon pools, but may overlook locally significant or sacred sites. The tender also lacks protections against siting projects in areas with ongoing land disputes or competing agricultural and pastoral uses.
• Local value creation in the BMWK pilot tender is limited by unclear job allocation guidelines and a narrow scope for infrastructure investments. The export-centric design of H2Global further restricts the ability to capture downstream industrial value and prioritises low-value-added commodities.

APA

NewClimate Institute (2025). Assessing safeguards for hydrogen sustainability in the H2Global mechanism. https://newclimate.org/resources/publications/assessing-safeguards-for-hydrogen-sustainability-in-the-h2global-mechanism

Chicago

NewClimate Institute. Assessing safeguards for hydrogen sustainability in the H2Global mechanism. 2025. https://newclimate.org/resources/publications/assessing-safeguards-for-hydrogen-sustainability-in-the-h2global-mechanism.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=NewClimate Institute |title=Assessing safeguards for hydrogen sustainability in the H2Global mechanism |date=11 February 2025 |url=https://newclimate.org/resources/publications/assessing-safeguards-for-hydrogen-sustainability-in-the-h2global-mechanism |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{newclimateinstitute2025assessing, author = {{NewClimate Institute}}, title = {{Assessing safeguards for hydrogen sustainability in the H2Global mechanism}}, institution = {NewClimate Institute}, year = {2025}, month = feb, url = {https://newclimate.org/resources/publications/assessing-safeguards-for-hydrogen-sustainability-in-the-h2global-mechanism}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }