IASS Focal Topic Year: “Justice in Sustainability” - Hydrogen Justice with Franziska Müller and Johanna Tunn

The global hydrogen transition promises a triple-win scenario of climate, economic and developmental benefits. However, whether the global hydrogen transition will indeed be a just transition is far from certain. In this regard, the concept of hydrogen justice may serve as an analytical toolkit to help examining and addressing the justice challenges associated with the global hydrogen transition. The multidimensional conceptualisation of hydrogen justice includes procedural, distributive, restorative, relational, recognitional and epistemological justice. Hydrogen injustices may manifest around issues of energy access in countries with high rates of energy poverty, water access in arid regions, as well as forced displacements, impairments of Indigenous livelihoods and the strengthening of authoritarian rule. A just hydrogen transition would put domestic energy needs first and incorporate justice principles at all scales of hydrogen governance. Professor Franziska Müller will be joined by her colleague Johanna Tunn.