Green Tides: The Suez Canal as Key Hub and Green Corridor for a Hydrogen Future Between the Middle East and Europe

The shipping industry faces the dual challenge of reducing emissions to meet net-zero targets by 2050 and transporting green energy sources like hydrogen and its derivatives. Green shipping corridors provide experimental routes for lowcarbon solutions, with the Suez Canal uniquely positioned to lead. This paper examines the canal’s evolving role as a dynamic energy space, where diverse actors and networks intersect, shaping spatial power relations and aligning with green capitalism interests. It explores the Suez Canal’s potential to serve as a model for hydrogen initiatives and its capacity to influence global energy governance and geopolitical dynamics in the transition to a sustainable shipping future. The canal also represents a microcosm of broader global shifts toward a future hydrogen economy, where numerous stakeholders vie for power and influence.