Presentation short abstract

This presentation introduces the Special Issue “Green Hydrogen in the Global South: Politics, Spaces, and Transformations”, published in Political Geography, and highlights key theoretical and empirical contributions.

Presentation long abstract

Green hydrogen is embraced as a key pillar of global energy transition agendas. As a flexible energy carrier for hard-to-decarbonize sectors, it is key to strategies for enhancing energy security, economic competitiveness, and sustainable development. While its global rollout remains uncertain, hydrogen is already reshaping the political geographies of energy, especially in the Global South. Many countries with abundant and untapped renewable resources anticipate export and investment opportunities while seeking local value creation through ‘green’ industrialization. This presentation introduces the Special Issue “Green Hydrogen in the Global South: Politics, Spaces, and Transformations”, published in Political Geography. The SI represents the first major collection of articles approaching, from social science perspectives, different hydrogen-related issues and case studies in the Global South. The SI coheres around three interrelated axes of inquiry. First, it examines how global and domestic power relations shape hydrogen development and asks who benefits from value creation and resource flows, and who bears the socio-ecological and economic risks. Second, it considers the spatial changes linked to hydrogen infrastructures, including land and water use, socio-ecological conflicts, and emerging forms of ‘green’ extractivism and ‘green’ colonialism. Third, it explores transformative potentials to move beyond extractivist and neocolonial patterns toward ‘green’ industrialization and energy justice. Together, the contributions advance the growing field of critical hydrogen studies. They show how hydrogen provides a crucial entry point for analyzing the politics, spaces, and transformations associated with ‘green’ transitions and chart pathways toward just, inclusive and decolonial energy futures.