Southern African countries—Namibia, Angola, Mozambique, and South Africa—are implementing measures to transition towards alternative fuels and renewable energy. The journey towards decarbonisation brings multiple challenges for African countries that have largely depended on fossil fuels—including constraints in infrastructure, finance, and community consultation and buy-in—and collaborative efforts as well as effective partnerships between Africa and other regions are key for effective climate change mitigation.

Climate change has resulted in increased efforts and implementation of measures by countries around the world to curb carbon emissions, which are the main contributor to climate change across various sectors of the economy. This is in recognition of this challenge as well as the need for compliance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7, which countries to “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all” by 2030. The impacts of climate change have been widely argued to include severe weather changes, increase in ocean acidification and ocean temperatures, which impacts marine life, food security, biodiversity, thus hampering economic growth. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) of 1992 and the Paris Agreement of 2015, flagged climate change as a challenge and called for mitigation measures which resulted in countries charting paths towards decarbonization. This process has been underscored by the “realization and gradual acceptance that the carbon-based energy system as well as some carbon-based gaseous industrial and household waste products and processes are detrimental to the environment”.^※1 The modelled pathways for decarbonisation have thus emphasised the need for the increase in the reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions to net zero across the various sectors with a view to limiting global warming to 2℃ or lower by 2100. This would, therefore, require transitioning from fossil fuels to very low or zero carbon energy sources, such as renewable energy sources and alternative fuels in shipping. The former would include wind energy, solar, battery, amongst others, whilst the latter would include fuels such as hydrogen, ammonia, liquefied natural gas and methanol. Ports also play a critical role in the decarbonisation of the maritime sector through infrastructure development, which allows for bunkering of alternative fuels, and the development of hubs that can become international centres for production, application, import and export to other countries^※2.
 
Decarbonisation efforts by countries are based on Nationally Determined Commitments (NDC), which reflect that country’s commitment and ambition to reduce GHG emissions, with these commitments depending on the country’s ability to adopt climate change goals. Through various engagements on climate change mitigation, it has become clear that this process requires all economies to be part of the solution, both developed and developing countries. This includes countries in the African continent as well, which have expressed commitment and willingness towards greening their economies. This paper, therefore, provides an overview of the pathway for maritime decarbonization in Africa, with a special focus on shipping decarbonisation efforts in Southern Africa.

The African Leaders Declaration on Climate Change and Call to Action at the Nairobi Conference in September 2023, indicated a shift in the position of African economies, with the leaders indicating their willingness to limit GHG emissions through adopting renewable energy initiatives. The African leaders at this Conference also called upon development partners across the world to align and coordinate their technical and financial resources toward Africa in its quest of contributing to global decarbonization. Africa is uniquely positioned to play a key role in the global low carbon energy transition with abundant renewable resources such as solar, wind, hydropower, and biomass. The continent, however, Africa is still marred by limited electricity generation capacity and inadequate infrastructure, despite possessing immense untapped energy potential in both fossil fuels and renewable resources, hence the need to expedite efforts of the journey toward sustainable energy use as fossil fuels still dominates about 71% of the energy supply.
 
South Africa has the 5th largest recoverable coal reserves in the world. The consequential decrease of coal demand on the global market and the obligation to reduce emissions on a national level will greatly affect carbon intensive countries like South Africa, with its total primary energy supply and power generation dominated by coal with 74% and 87% respectively. As a country dealing with high unemployment and extreme poverty, it will face financial, technological and social challenges as the transition towards a low-carbon energy system progresses. The transition to renewable energy presents opportunities to address key challenges as renewable energy integration also offers a pathway to reducing dependence on fossil fuels, enhancing resilience, as well as strengthening long-term energy security. By diversifying the energy mix, African countries can reduce their vulnerability to geopolitical and market fluctuations tied to oil and gas imports. Although it has been argued that renewable sources can enhance economic opportunities, create jobs, and improve living standards, particularly in rural and underserved areas in the continent, there has been somewhat a slow transition may hinder decarbonization goals across the different sectors.
 
In respect of the oceans economy, Africa’s extensive coastline of about 30 000km makes it highly conducive for the utilization of hydropower, currently constituting around 17% of electricity generation in Africa, with several countries, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, and Zambia, relying on it for over 80 % of their electricity needs^※3. There has been little consideration of ocean renewable energy sources, for which sub-Saharan Africa has considerable potential, because it is surrounded by two Oceans, the Atlantic on the west coast and the Indian Ocean on the East coast.
 
One of the most important actors in Africa’s oceans economy is maritime transport with different kinds of fleet bringing negative effects such as air pollution, comes from conventional fuel used in propulsion systems^※4. Although maritime transport is more economical per unit ton and more efficient at long distance than other modes; GHG emissions from ships account for 2.2 percent of the total emissions, expected to increase by about 50 percent to 250 percent by 2050 with an increase in international cargo volumes^※5.
 
Major steps are being taken in the context of air pollution prevention measures in shipping, with the promulgation of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) International Maritime Organisation (IMO) covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes. Of the over 170 countries that have ratified MARPOL, 17 that are from Africa,^※6 which reflects commitment by the continent reduce emission from shipping. In July 2023, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted a historic ambition of achieving net-zero GHG emissions for international shipping by or around 2050. Within the scope of the system, vessels of 5,000 gross tonnage or more, which are responsible for 85% of carbon dioxide emissions, are required to report their annual reports on fuel to the local authorities. Zero-emission fuels are those that reduce well-to-wake GHG emissions by 80% or more compared to fossil heavy fuel oil, and alternatives for consideration include ammonia, methanol, hydrogen, battery, biofuels, liquid natural gas, carbon offsets or efficiency improvements.
 
Countries in Southern Africa such as Namibia, Angola, Mozambique and South Africa have implemented measures to transition their economies towards alternative fuels and renewable energy with a view to contributing towards the reduction of climate change and development of their economies. Namibia developed a Green Hydrogen and Derivatives Strategy in 2022 which aims to produce about 10-12 million tonnes of hydrogen equivalent annually by 2050, creating a large-scale green fuels industry for domestic use and exports. This has resulted in several large-scale projects currently underway, such as Hyphen project, which aims to produce a million tons of green ammonia annually; with the aim of the large-scale projects being to create 85,000 direct jobs in renewable energy as well as 60,000 indirect jobs by 2030.^※7 Angola’s Renewable Energy Programme is aimed at ensuring the country’s transition towards a more renewable energy-based power matrix (focusing on wind, solar and hydropower), with a target to increase reliance on clean energy sources to 73% by 2027.^※8 Mozambique has committed to expanding renewable energy as part of its long-term energy strategy, with solar and wind energy expected to represent 20% of the country’s electricity mix by 2040, with various projects currently underway. Although this target appears to be low compered to other countries, it does somewhat represent some level of commitment towards utilisation of cleaner energies.
 
South Africa is also actively pursuing decarbonisation of its economy through the adoption and implementation of the Just Energy Transition Programme (JET) which “sets out the scale of need and the investments required to achieve the decarbonisation commitments in the country’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and outlines its contribution to the goals of the Paris Agreement”.^※9 In addition to other measures in place, South Africa has a Climate Change Act which provides a framework for setting sectoral emissions targets, carbon budgets, and a national emissions reduction trajectory. Linked to that the country also administers a Carbon Tax that covers fossil fuel combustion emissions, product use emissions, fugitive emissions such as those from coal mining, as well as industrial processes. In addition, South Africa has recently concluded the development of the South African Renewable Energy Master Plan which sets out how the country will set up a new manufacturing industry in the renewable energy value chain and focuses on job creation as well as investment attraction. Furthermore, South Africa is one of the 17 African countries that have rarified MARPOL Convention by the IMO and the country is in the process of finalising its National Action Plan in response to the IMO GHG Strategy 2023. As part of its transition initiatives, South Africa is implementing several renewable energy projects across the country including green hydrogen production and infrastructure projects in the coastal areas in the ports of Saldanha, Coega, and Boegoebaai. These and other projects in Southern Africa and other parts of the demonstrate the continent’s commitment towards the decarbonisation of the economies to mitigate climate change effects.

Challenges
The decarbonisation journey is bound to have several challenges for African countries which have largely depended on fossil fuels as an energy source. This may include:
 

• Technological – limited availability of infrastructure and facilities as well as human resources to operate and service the systems. There is therefore a need to invest technological infrastructure and skills.
• Economical – the large capital investment required is likely to be a major challenge in ocean renewable energy development.
• Policy – it has been observed that current laws and policies support the development of renewable energy in several countries, largely focusing on solar and wind energy, with ocean renewable energy, however, receiving limited policy commitment.
• Socio-cultural – lack of community consultation and buy-in may present a challenge in implementation of certain projects in community-based regions. The socio-cultural aspects of local communities, therefore, need to be taken into consideration when introducing new projects and technology to ensure acceptance, and ownership.
• Operational – the new renewable energy projects will come with certain operational requirements and challenges in port inefficiencies may present a challenge. Investment in port infrastructure to accommodate the renewable energy requirements is therefore key.

 
Opportunities
In light of the challenges identified the proposed interventions and opportunities may include the development and investment in human capital as well as capacity building in academic institutions, increasing investment and financial incentives to promote renewable energy development, investment in technology and applications development, investment in port facilities and creation of renewable energy hubs where various renewable energy activities can occur, development of national plans in line with global policy, securing green finance for projects, and increasing awareness about the importance of ocean renewable energy.

Decarbonisation across the various sectors of the economy is an imperative to mitigate the impacts of climate change which have led to adverse weather conditions, rising ocean temperature levels and ocean acidification, thus impacting on marine life and food security. Various strategies and initiatives to reduce carbon emissions have been implemented in Southern Africa and several countries in the continent, however, there needs to be increased efforts in addressing some of the challenges that have been identified to ensure efficient implementation of renewable energy and alternative fuels projects. The transition to low emission strategies requires political, industry and civil support and commitment. Collaborative efforts and building effective partnerships between Africa and other regions, to meet the needs for research, financial, technical and capacity building, as well as technological support are key for effective climate change mitigation.

※1 Grimmet, R. (2024). Decarbonisation: An opportunity for economic advancement and a challenge to action for developing economies.
※2 Doucoure, M. (2025). Decarbonisation in Shipping and Maritime Innovation Call for Readiness in Maritime Education and Skills Training In South Africa.
※3 Alex-Oke et al (2025). Renewable Energy Market in Africa: Opportunities, Progress, Challenges, and Future Prospects.
※4 Efecan, V., and Gurgen, E. (2019). Investigation of the Usability of Renewable Energy in Maritime Transportation.
※5 IMO, (2018). Note by the International Maritime Organization to The UNFCCC Talanoa Dialogue, (International Maritime Organization).
※6 IMO Presentation at the Maritime Decarbonisation Workshop in South Africa, 2025
※7 Green Hydrogen Organisation. Namibia Green Hydrogen Strategy and Derivatives (2022)
※8 Bekele, L. (2024). Angola Accelerates Transition to Clean Energy by 2027
※9 Climate Commission (2025). https://www.climatecommission.org.za/just-transition-framework