Algeria, Tunisia, Austria, Germany and Italy have agreed to construct a hydrogen pipeline to bring clean fuel generated with renewable energy in North Africa to the European Union, in a move hailed as one of the bloc’s “most important renewable energy projects”.
But analysis of Algeria and Tunisia’s green hydrogen strategies reveals that neither country is likely to be in a position to export the fuel in any meaningful quantity when the pipeline is due to start operating in 2030.
Experts told Climate Home News that despite the hydrogen hype, there are serious challenges for North Africa to become a major exporter of green hydrogen to the EU by 2030. Some question whether the pipeline should be developed at all.
Last week, ministers from each country along with Tunisia’s ambassador to Italy met in Rome where they confirmed their intentions to build the SoutH2 Corridor.
The first-of-its kind hydrogen pipeline, 3,500-4,000 kilometres long, would run under the Mediterranean Sea. It aims to connect hydrogen production centres in Algeria and Tunisia – which have yet to be built – to the Italian island of Sicily and consumer hubs in Austria and Germany by repurposing existing gas infrastructure along 65% of the route.
The corridor “is crucial for the development of an interconnected and diversified hydrogen backbone” in the EU, the consortium of European and Algerian companies developing the project says on its website.
Green hydrogen ramp-up
The EU is betting on importing large amounts of green hydrogen to wean highly polluting sectors and hard-to-electrify industries such as steel production, fertilisers and long-distance transport off climate-wrecking fossil fuels.
With its abundant sunshine, vast renewable energy potential and relative proximity to Europe, EU officials hope to tap into North Africa’s resources and secure green hydrogen supplies.
“The Southern Hydrogen Corridor is one of the largest and most important renewable energy projects of our time,” Philipp Nimmermann, Germany’s State Secretary for the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, said in a statement.
“We can use North Africa’s immense potential for renewable energies, advance the hydrogen ramp-up in Germany and support the EU’s climate targets,” he added.
According to the project consortium, the pipeline, when fully operational, could deliver more than 40% of the EU’s target to import 10 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030.
But Algeria and Tunisia anticipate large-scale green hydrogen production to be at least a decade away, calling into question plans for exports in the next five years.
Adrian Odenweller, a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), told Climate Home that the EU should “certainly not count on the delivery” of green hydrogen from Algeria and Tunisia any time soon.
Odenweller said he does “not expect to see any hydrogen imports via [the SoutH2 Corridor] by the year 2030” and urged policy makers to interpret project announcements “with caution”.
“Green hydrogen production projects have a poor track record and often get delayed. I would expect this to be even worse for massive infrastructure projects such as pipelines that require international coordination,” he said.
Mismatched expectations
Green hydrogen is produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable electricity – as opposed to blue or grey hydrogen, which uses gas.
But transporting green hydrogen is a logistical challenge. Channelling it in a gaseous form through a pipeline is generally cheaper and more efficient that liquefying it to transport it on ships but requires relative proximity to where the fuel is consumed.
Algeria and Tunisia do not currently produce green hydrogen. Algeria – a top gas exporter – and Tunisia generate nearly all of their electricity from gas. The share of solar power in electricity generation is growing but accounted for less than 1% in Algeria in 2023 and 4% in Tunisia the same year, according to BloombergNEF data.
Over the last two years, both countries have released green hydrogen strategies. But neither country foresees large-scale hydrogen production until the mid-2030s.
By 2030, the SouthH2 Corridor will have capacity to import 4 million tonnes of hydrogen per year into the EU. But Algeria and Tunisia expect to have combined capacity to export around 330,000 tonnes of hydrogen – or 8% of the pipeline’s capacity – by then.
Algeria’s hydrogen strategy suggests it could produce around 30,700 tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030. The country foresees production of more than 1 million tonnes from 2040. Tunisia plans to export 300,000 tonnes of green hydrogen to the EU by 2030 and 1.6 million tonnes by 2040.
Neither the Algerian nor Tunisian governments responded to requests for comment.
‘Reality check’
According to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), less than 1% of the 97 million tonnes of hydrogen produced globally in 2023 was green or “low emissions” hydrogen.
Growth in the sector has been slow, with many projects struggling to move beyond very early stages of development. The IEA recently found that investments in electrolysers and green hydrogen have lagged because of uncertainty over costs, demand and regulatory frameworks.
A recent paper published in Nature Energy by PIK found a “huge gap between [hydrogen] announcements and actual deployment”. They tracked almost 200 projects over three years and determined that only 7% of the capacity announced was completed on schedule.
In 2024, the EU’s own auditors called for “a reality check” on its green hydrogen production and import targets, describing them as “overly ambitious”. But the EU Commission said it stood by the targets despite the challenges. The Commission declined to respond to Climate Home’s questions on the SoutH2 Corridor.
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Abdurahman Alsulaiman, from the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, argued that the EU’s hydrogen import target is “highly ambitious” but underpinned by a sound political calculation.
“As more details about financial support, trade economics, and standardisation become available to investors, the target will become more of a reality rather than just an ambition,” he told Climate Home. It is also placing “urgency “ on potential production hubs such as North Africa even though “the economics of the green hydrogen trade are still at a very nascent stage”, he added.
Diverting energy and water away from needs
But others have questioned whether Algeria and Tunisia should use clean electricity to produce hydrogen for export rather than to meet their own energy needs.
“Instead of planning to export green hydrogen to Europe, North African countries should focus on using domestically produced hydrogen to decarbonise their own high energy-intensive industries or increasing their share of renewables in power generation,” Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz, of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, told Climate Home.
Tunisia already struggles with energy shortages and is dependent on gas and electricity imports from Algeria to meet its growing electricity needs, said Saber Ammar, a Tunisian researcher at the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute think-tank.
The EU is pushing for a green hydrogen economy because “they dominate the [hydrogen] value chains and technologies” and can outsource all “the socio-environmental costs to the peripheries”, he said.
Using scarce renewable electricity and even scarcer water resources to produce green hydrogen for Europe “is not only a paradoxical and foolish investment but it also underscores the political hegemony at play”, he added.
Coal-reliant South African provinces falling behind on just transition
Drought-stricken Tunisia and Algeria are already experiencing water shortages and climate change is likely to exacerbate water scarcity in the region.
Former Algerian parliamentarian Nadjib Drouiche, a senior researcher in desalination and water policy, supports Algeria’s move to become a hydrogen-exporting nation.
However, North Africa’s “water scarcity, exacerbated by climate change, necessitates a cautious approach,” he told Climate Home.
“Prioritising domestic water needs, implementing sustainable water management strategies like efficient desalination, wastewater reuse and water conservation… are crucial before large-scale green hydrogen production for export can be considered,” he emphasised.
(Reporting by Sacha Shaw; editing by Chloé Farand)
The post EU backs North Africa hydrogen pipeline, but is it a green dream? appeared first on Climate Home News.
EU backs North Africa hydrogen pipeline, but is it a green dream?
CANBERRA, Monday 27 October 2025 — More than 100 Australian scientists and researchers have called on the Labor Government to address deforestation in the new nature law reforms, warning that the impacts under the current Act “compound the damage caused by repeated mass bleaching events driven by climate change” to the Great Barrier Reef.
Environment Minister Murray Watt will soon table the draft bill to reform Australia’s broken nature law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. Leading environmental groups Greenpeace Australia Pacific, the Australian Marine Conservation Society, and the Australian Conservation Foundation coordinated the open letter with 112 leading Australian scientists, calling for the reforms to close loopholes in the Act that allow for rampant and unchecked deforestation, especially in the Great Barrier Reef catchment.
Read the letter here.
Elle Lawless, senior campaigner at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said:
“Now is the time to act decisively for nature, and design a nature-first nature law that will do what it is set out to do: protect our environment. Toxic runoff from deforestation in the Great Barrier Reef catchment is poisoning the reef and suffocating the precious and fragile marine ecosystem. The Great Barrier Reef is a global icon, and we need a strong, robust EPBC Act that will safeguard and protect it. This is one of the most important pieces of legislation our country and our environment has and, done right, has the power to make serious and desperately needed positive changes to protect nature.”
Professor James Watson FQA, from UQ’s School of the Environment, said:
“Australia’s State of the Environment report, released by the federal government in 2021, shows that our oceans, rivers and wetlands are in serious decline. That report, and the Samuel review of the EPBC, make the point that there is a desperate need for stronger national nature laws that help protect these precious places for generations to come.
“Australia’s top environmental academics and experts have been sounding the alarm for decades: the large-scale destruction of Australia’s native woodlands, forests, wetlands and grasslands is the single biggest threat to our biodiversity. It’s driving an extinction crisis unlike anywhere else on Earth — and it’s threatening the Great Barrier Reef, one of the world’s seven natural wonders, right before our eyes.”
Continued mass deforestation threatens the Great Barrier Reef’s World Heritage status. In 2026, the World Heritage Committee will review Australia’s progress in protecting the reef and may consider placing it on the World Heritage in Danger list if major threats like deforestation are not addressed.
Recent figures from the Queensland Government show deforestation in Queensland is the worst in the nation and worsening under the current national environment law. Deforestation in the Great Barrier Reef catchment accounted for almost half (44%) of the state’s total clearing, an increase on the previous year.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific is calling for the EPBC reforms to meet four key tests:
- Stronger upfront nature protection to guide better decisions on big projects, including National Environmental Standards.
- An independent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enforce the laws and make decisions about controversial projects at arm’s length from politics.
- Closing deforestation loopholes that allow for harmful industries to carry out mass bulldozing across Australia.
- Consideration of the climate impacts on nature from coal and gas mines when assessing projects for approvals.
“We will continue to engage with the government constructively in the reform process but also hold decision-makers to account over these critical tests,” Lawless said.
—ENDS—
Leading scientists call for EPBC reforms to strengthen Great Barrier Reef protection
22 October 2025
The Hon Anthony Albanese MP
Prime Minister
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Sent via email
To the Prime Minister, Federal Environment Minister, and Members of the Albanese Government,
As researchers who study, document and work to recover Australia’s plants and animals, insects and ecosystems, we are keenly aware of the value of nature to Australians and the world.
Australia has one of the worst rates of deforestation globally. For every 100 hectares of native woodland cleared, about 2000 birds, 15,000 reptiles and 500 native mammals will die. As scientists and experts, we have sounded the alarm for more than 30 years that the large-scale destruction of native woodlands, forests, wetlands and grasslands was the single biggest threat to the nation’s biodiversity. That is still the case today, and it is driving an extinction crisis.
New figures show that Queensland continues to lead the nation in deforestation. The latest statewide landcover and trees study (SLATS) report shows that annually 44% of all deforestation in Queensland occurs in the Great Barrier Reef catchment areas, where over 140,000 hectares are bulldozed each year.
Deforestation in Great Barrier Reef catchments is devastating one of Australia’s most iconic natural wonders. When forests and bushland are bulldozed, erosion causes debris to wash into waterways, sending sediment, nutrients and pesticides into the Reef waters. This smothers coral, fuels crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks, and reduces water quality. These impacts compound the damage caused by repeated mass bleaching events driven by climate change.
The Great Barrier Reef sustains precious marine life, supports local and global biodiversity, and underpins tourism economies and coastal communities that rely on its survival. Continued mass deforestation threatens these values and could jeopardise the Reef’s World Heritage status. In 2026 the World Heritage Committee will review Australia’s progress in protecting the Reef and may consider placing it on the World Heritage in Danger list, if key threats to the Reef, including deforestation, are not addressed.
This mass deforestation happens due to a loophole in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, our national nature law. Exemptions allow deforestation to continue largely unregulated by the EPBC Act through a grandfathering clause from 2000 known as “continuous use”. Without meaningful reform, deforestation will continue to drive massive biodiversity loss. This loophole must be closed as part of the proposed EPBC Act reforms. The law is meant to safeguard our wildlife and our most precious places like the Great Barrier Reef. Please support closing major deforestation loopholes in the EPBC Act as an urgent and priority issue for the Federal Government.
Sincerely,
Professor James Watson, University of Queensland
Dr. Michelle Ward
Mandy Cheung
Mr Lachlan Cross
Timothy Ravasi
Gillian Rowan
Dr Graham R. Fulton, The University of Queensland
Dr Alison Peel
Dr James Richardson University of Queensland
Luke Emerson, University of Newcastle
Dr Hilary Pearl
Dr Tina Parkhurst
Dr Kerry Bridle
Dr Tracy Schultz, Senior Research Fellow, University of Queensland
Dr. Zachary Amir
Prof David M Watson, Gulbali Institute, CSU
Naomi Ploos van Amstel, PhD candidate
David Schoeman
Associate Professor Simone Blomberg, University of Queensland
Professor Euan Ritchie, Deakin University
Dr Ian Baird, Conservation Biologist
Paul Elton (ANU)
Melissa Billington
Hayden de Villiers
Professor Brett Murphy, Charles Darwin University
Professor Sarah Bekessy
Professor Anthony J. Richardson (University of Queensland)
Prof. Winnifred Louis, University of Queensland
Dr Yung En Chee, The University of Melbourne
Dr Jed Calvert, postdoctoral research fellow in wetland ecology, University of Queensland
A/Prof Daniel C Dunn, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, University of Queensland
Lincoln Kern, Ecologist
Professor Corey Bradshaw, Flinders University
Dr. Viviana Gonzalez, The University of Queensland
Prof. Helen Bostock
Dr Leslie Roberson
Bethany Kiss
Assoc. Prof Diana Fisher, UQ, and co-chair of the IUCN Marsupial and Monotreme Specialist Group
Dr Jacinta Humphrey, RMIT University
Professor Mathew Crowther
Christopher R. Dickman, Professor Emeritus, The University of Sydney
Fiona Hoegh-Guldberg, RMIT University
Dr Bertram Jenkins
Dr Daniela ParraFaundes
Dr Jessica Walsh
Dr. GABRIELLA scata – marine biologist, wildlife protector
Katherine Robertson
Professor Jane Williamson, Macquarie University
William F. Laurance, Distinguished Professor, James Cook University
A/Prof Deb Bower
Dr Leslie Roberson, University of Queensland
Ms Jasmine Hall, Senior Research Assistant in Coastal Wetland Biogeochemistry, Ecology and Management, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University
Dr Kita Ashman, Adjunct Research Associate, Charles Sturt University
Genevieve Newey
Matt Hayward
Jessie Moyses
Natalya Maitz, PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland
Christina Ritchie
Liana van Woesik, PhD Student, University of Queensland
Benjamin Lucas, PhD Researcher
A/Prof. Carissa Klein, The University of Queensland
Conrad Pratt, PhD Student, University of Queensland
Dr Ascelin Gordon, RMIT University
Professor Nicole Graham, The University of Sydney
Professor Murray Lee, University of Sydney Law School
Dr Tracy Schultz, Snr Research Fellow, University of Queensland
Libby Newton (PhD candidate, Sydney Law School)
Hannah Thomas, University of Queensland
Professor Richard Kingsford, Director of the Centre for Ecosystem Science, UNSW Sydney
Dr Anna Hopkins
Lena van Swinderen, PhD candidate at the University of Queensland
Professor Jodie Rummer, James Cook University
Dr Nita Lauren, Lecturer, RMIT University
Dr Christina Zdenek
Madeline Davey
Dr Rachel Killean, Sydney Law School
Dr. Sofía López-Cubillos
Dr Claire Larroux
Dr Alice Twomey, The University of Queensland
Zoe Gralton
Dr Robyn Gulliver
Ryan Borrett, Murdoch University
Adjunct Prof. Paul Lawrence, Griffith University, Brisbane Qld
Professor Susan Park, University of Sydney
Dr Holly Kirk, Curtin University
Deakin Distinguished Professor Marcel Klaassen
Dr Megan Evans, UNSW Canberra
Dr Amanda Irwin, The University of Sydney
Dr Keith Cardwell
Professor Don Driscoll, Deakin University
Susan Bengtson Nash
Distinguished Professor David Lindenmayer
Dr Madelyn Mangan, University of Queensland
Dr Isabella Smith
Geoff Lockwood
Dr Paula Peeters, Paperbark Writer
Prof Cynthia Riginos, University of Queensland
Dr. Sankar Subramanian
Associate Professor Zoe Richards
Dr Jessie Wells, The University of Melbourne
Professor Gretta Pecl AM, University of Tasmania
Dr April Reside, The University of Queensland
Oriana Licul-Milevoj (Ecologist)
Dr Yves-Marie Bozec, University of Queensland
Dr Julia Hazel
Dr Judit K. Szabo
Ana Ulloa
Dr Andreas Dietzel
Philip Spark – North West Ecological Services
Jonathan Freeman
Dr/ Mohamed Mohamed Rashad
The recent discovery of Grimpoteuthis feitiana, a new species of Dumbo octopus found deep in the Pacific, is a reminder of something both humbling and urgent: we still know so little about the ocean that shapes our lives. This fragile, finned creature, gliding silently more than a kilometer beneath the waves, has lived in these waters long before we mapped them, and its story is only now coming to light.
What moves me most about this discovery is not just the Dumbo octopus itself, but how it bridges science and culture. Its name draws inspiration from the flying apsaras of China’s Dunhuang murals, those graceful, winged figures that seem to dance through air and imagination. It reminds me that the deep sea has always held a place in our collective human story, — not only in myths and art, but in the ways we relate to nature, learn from it, and find meaning within it.
Pasifika connection to the ocean
For us in the Pacific, the ocean is more than a body of water. It is our identity, our culture, our history. Our ancestors read the seas to navigate, to survive, to connect communities scattered across islands. Discoveries like this Dumbo octopus awaken something deeper in me, — a sense that the ocean is alive with stories and wisdom we are only beginning to rediscover. And with that understanding comes a responsibility to protect it.
Each new species like the Dumbo octopus, each glimpse into the deep, is a warning as much as it is a wonder. The creatures of the abyss live slow, deliberate lives in fragile ecosystems, shaped by balance and patience. Deep-sea mining, pollution, and climate change threaten to erase them before we even learn their names. Protecting the Pacific’s oceans is not an abstract act of conservation; it is an act of cultural preservation, of love for our home, and for the unseen life that sustains us all.
Grimpoteuthis feitiana is more than a scientific discovery. It is a reminder that the ocean is still full of life, mystery, and wisdom — and that we have a duty to ensure these depths remain wild, healthy, and alive, for us and for the generations yet to come.
Reflection by Raeed Ali
Pacific Community Mobiliser
Leading scientists call for EPBC reforms to strengthen Great Barrier Reef protection
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