Is Europe’s green energy shift hindering our region’s own efforts? Morocco and Egypt got a mention last week in The Guardian ’s deep-dive into a recent Greenpeace report (pdf) exploring how European-backed renewable energy projects are hindering both countries’ decarbonization efforts. Despite their solar and wind potential, Morocco and Egypt remain net fossil fuel importers while their cleaner energy flows north across the Mediterranean, Greenpeace said. The projects are also displacing local populations and exploiting scarce freshwater resources.

In Morocco, green hydrogen production exemplifies what Greenpeace calls Europe’s ‘extractivist’ approach. The projects — aimed at serving European markets — divert renewable energy from domestic consumption and occupy 1 mn hectares of land while requiring an estimated 92 mn cubic meters of water — while the country ranks 27th globally for water stress.

In Egypt, European energy companies invested bns after the Russian-Ukrainian war to tap into the country’s gas reserves as alternatives to Russian supply. Overdrilling has since damaged geological formations, causing soil erosion and water contamination. Greenpeace argues that Egyptians have seen little benefit from these investments, as Egypt is increasing its use of mazut — a heavy fuel oil with toxic sulfides and metals — to free up more natural gas for export to Europe.

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