Dreams of Sustainability, Realities of Extraction and Exploitation? : Green Colonialism in the Hyphen Hydrogen Project

Sammanfattning

This thesis examines the extent to which the Hyphen Hydrogen Project in Namibia reproduces aspects of green colonialism within the global energy transition. The analysis is based on the conceptualisation of green colonialism developed by Dejonghe and Van de Graaf (2025) who identified the interconnected mechanism of Domination, Accumulation and Appropriation as central dimensions through which colonial continuities can perpetuate in green hydrogen projects. This thesis examines how the Hyphen Hydrogen Project is framed in official content and how these narratives reproduce patterns of dependency, exclusion, extractivism and unequal power relations. Methodologically, this thesis adopts a qualitative research approach focusing on the analysis of content and the comparison of dominant and critical perspectives surrounding the project. The empirical material consists of official content of the project, which is analysed to examine how the project is framed and legitimised by dominant actors. In addition, documents from Indigenous organisations and NGOs are used to highlight concerns regarding land dispossession, environmental risks, and procedural injustices. The analysis disclosed patterns of green colonialism regarding the inclusion of Indigenous Communities, as well as dynamics of extractivism and dependency. Additionally, the project reflects aspects of land and resource appropriation, as well as the potential displacement of environmental burdens from the Global North to the Global South. However, the thesis also points out that the case of the Hyphen Hydrogen project cannot be understood through the simple binary of ‘coloniser’ and ‘colonised’, as the Namibian states actively participates in and seeks to benefit from the project. Nevertheless, the thesis concludes that the project perpetuates significant characteristics of green colonialism under the cover of the global green transition.