International Law and the Renewable Energy Sector

Author(s):  
Leslie Parker

This chapter examines key legal instruments and mechanisms relevant to international renewable energy regulation. These play an important role in governing unified action and enhancing collaboration and information-sharing on effective policies and investment frameworks aimed at reducing barriers and risks to investments in renewable energy. The mechanisms that are analysed are the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Statute, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol and related international climate change negotiations and declarations, the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), and various sector-specific treaties. The chapter also turns its attention to the primary international organizations that influence present and future directions in international renewable energy policy, such as the Nairobi Programme of Action for the Development and Utilization of New and Renewable Sources of Energy, International Energy Agency, Development Banks, and the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership.

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 2875 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio Mauleón

This research implements a methodology to the joint assessment of the photovoltaic and onshore wind investment roadmaps put forward by the main institutions in the field, International Renewable Energy Association (Irena) and the International Energy Agency, to achieve a low carbon emissions economy with near zero net greenhouse gases emissions. The two energies taken together account for over 80% of the renewable energy deployments envisaged by both roadmaps. The assessment is conducted according to economic criteria (the levelized cost of energy, capital requirements and financial risks), and environmental (carbon avoided, its value, and its cost). Given the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on the urgency to tackle climate change, accelerated deployments of the roadmaps are assessed as well. Overall, it is found that the roadmaps are financially sound, even under an accelerated scenario. Possible limits to the deployment of renewable energies roadmaps derived from the availability of raw materials and other constraints are also discussed, showing likely constraints for lithium batteries but not for photovoltaic and wind energies.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 2906 ◽  
Author(s):  
George E. Halkos ◽  
Eleni-Christina Gkampoura

The world’s ever-increasing population, combined with economic and technological growth and a new, modern way of life, has led to high energy demand and consumption. Fossil fuels have been the main energy source for many years, but their use has many negative impacts on the environment. This has made the transition to renewable energy sources necessary in order to address climate change and meet the 1.5 °C goal. This paper is a review of the different types of renewables, their potentials and limitations, and their connection to climate change, economic growth, and human health. It also examines consumers’ willingness to pay for renewables in different countries, based on the existing literature. IEA (International Energy Agency) data are analyzed, concerning renewables’ current use, the evolution of their usage, and forecasts about their future usage. Finally, policies and strategies are recommended in order to address climate change and fully integrate renewables as a sustainable energy source.


2021 ◽  
pp. 65-83
Author(s):  
Peter Drahos

States, motivated by military concerns, have mismanaged the geo-energy trilemma with the result that they face a much deeper climate emergency than they otherwise might. The geo-energy trilemma consists of climate mitigation, energy security, and economic/military development. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has been central to the creation of a data path that prioritizes fossil fuels over the development of renewable energy. The International Energy Agency sent states down the track of more coal development even though carbon capture storage was never a realistic prospect. The IEA failed to build trust among states on energy and climate change issues. The creation of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an important step forward globally for the renewable energy industries.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-95
Author(s):  
Feiyue Li

Abstract The idea of ‘fairness’ may be viewed as fundamental to a nation’s participation in the development of the international legal system governing climate change. As the second-largest economy and the largest Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emitter in the world, China’s actions on climate change are critical to the global response. Indeed, international cooperation on climate change is unlikely to succeed without China’s active engagement. Therefore, China’s perception of the fairness of responsibility allocation will significantly influence its attitudes toward its international climate responsibilities. However, limited work has been done to date to concretely examine China’s perspective of the fairness of responsibility allocation and to understand its fairness discourses and practices of climate responsibility in a dynamically evolved process. This article aims to fill that gap in the literature by elucidating how China perceives the fair allocation of climate responsibility and how its fairness discourses and practices have evolved over the course of the three phases of international climate change negotiations. It will be shown that China has perceived the factors of historically accumulated emissions, per capita emissions and capability to lie at the very core of its understanding of fairness.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 379-395
Author(s):  
Marcela Cardoso Guilles Da Conceição ◽  
Renato de Aragão Ribeiro Rodrigues ◽  
Fernanda Reis Cordeiro ◽  
Fernando Vieira Cesário ◽  
Gracie Verde Selva ◽  
...  

The increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere raises the average temperature of the planet, triggering problems that threaten the survival of humans. Protecting the global climate from the effects of climate change is an essential condition for sustaining life. For this reason, governments, scientists, and society are joining forces to propose better solutions that could well-rounded environmentally, social and economic development relationships. International climate change negotiations involve many countries in establishing strategies to mitigate the problem. Therefore, understanding international negotiation processes and how ratified agreements impact a country is of fundamental importance. The purpose of this paper is to systematize information about how climate negotiations have progressed, detailing key moments and results, analyzing the role that Brazil played in the course of these negotiations and the country’s future perspectives.


Author(s):  
Alex L. Wang

This chapter outlines China’s developing climate change response. The nation is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases and the largest consumer of energy. China’s engagement in the international climate change negotiations can be divided into three phases: a ‘learning’ phase from 1989 to 1995; a shift toward more active participation between 1995 and 2007; and more comprehensive engagement on climate change domestically and internationally around the time of the UN Climate Conference in Bali in 2007. Shortly before the conference, Chinese authorities announced for the first time a comprehensive National Climate Change Program. It presented a range of existing policies created earlier to address other energy and environmental issues.


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