Professor of Energy Law and Global Regulation, University of Dundee
Disclosure statement
Volker Roeben does not work for, consult, own shares in
or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit
from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond
their academic appointment.
Energy is the lifeblood of all societies. But the production of
energy from the burning of fossil fuels produces carbon emissions that
are released into the atmosphere on a grand scale. The energy sector
accounts for more than 70% of these emissions, which are driving climate change worldwide.
Reducing carbon emissions from the energy sector has a direct and
positive impact on climate protection. So there needs to be a transition
from the current energy system that relies heavily on fossil fuels to a
system that uses renewable energy sources that do not emit carbon, such
as wind and solar.
We also need to look at things like the electrification of transport and embrace a circular economy
that seeks to reduce waste and the demand for energy. This process has
already begun, but we need to speed it up – we’ve been dragging our
heels for too long and now things are critical.
This will not happen by itself; it requires policy choices. These
must be global, involving all states. It’s no good changing the energy
sector of just one country. Energy has long been considered to fall
within the domain of domestic policy. Yet international climate action
is driving the transition to a low-carbon energy economy, on the basis
of scientific evidence that highlights the importance of reducing energy consumption for the climate.
This must be done as quickly as possible. Some countries are more
committed than others, but the extent of how much is actually being
achieved (or not) must be monitored. This can only happen through the
cooperation of all states under international law. Cooperative
regulation of energy demands innovative, flexible organisation and
law-making at international and the regional level.
Energy action = climate action
The United Nations (UN) is at the forefront of this international cooperation. In 2015, the General Assembly adopted Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) that set out the progress the global community wants to make by
2030 on the most pressing challenges, from proverty reduction to climate
change and energy transition. SDG 7
relates to ensuring access to clean and affordable energy for all. It
contains indicators of progress on renewables, access to electricity and
energy efficiency. SDG 13
relates to urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
These two goals work in tandem to encourage all states – developed and
developing – to collaborate to make energy sustainable (meaning
low-carbon), while ensuring access for all in every country by 2030.
That means international climate action equals energy action. The UN High-Level Political Forum is the place states get together to discuss progress on the SGDs, and where consensus is being (re)affirmed continuously.
SGDs 7 and 13 have been established and reinforced through the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. This is a binding treaty under international law adopted through the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change,
by which the UN first addressed climate change in 1992. The agreement
is the key international legal framework through which states aim to
keep the increase in the temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere to well
below 2℃, and ideally limiting it to 1.5℃ by the end of the century.
Signing up to cooperation
Almost all states have ratified the Paris Agreement and so must abide
by it. If any intends to withdraw from it, they must abide by the legal
rules of the agreement. So the US would only be able to withdraw – as Donald Trump insists
– after the next presidential election. In the meantime, his
administration continues to abide by the Paris Agreement rules and
actually takes a very active role in the negotiations.
Domestic action is necessary to implement the promises of the Paris
Agreement. Every state is obliged to submit “nationally determined
contributions” that set the scene for the most ambitious climate
protection plan at the national level.
These national plans on climate protection have a strong influence on energy regulation at the domestic level. The “Katowice package”
(the Paris rule book), adopted in 2018, provides further guidance. For
developed countries, the Paris Agreement stipulates that they adopt
eceonomy-wide greenhouse gas emission targets. These targets can only be
achieved if the entire economy, including the energy sector, is
“decarbonised”. That means that the use of fossil fuels has to end and
be replaced by sustainable (renewable) energy.
Developing countries receive support under the Paris Agreement so
that they too can move over time to economy-wide reduction targets. Only
by acting together will the international community achieve the
temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.
The 1994 Energy Charter Treaty,
driven by the European Union and like-minded states, is emerging as the
basis of transcontinental energy governance in Europe, Asia and Africa.
This treaty covers energy investments, trade, freedom of energy
transit, efficiency, and resolution of disputes. It is now modernising
to support the energy transition.
Cooperative energy regulation also occurs on a regional level, and
that is the case in Europe as well as Asia and Africa. The EU has
adopted a frontrunner position with a strategy precisely based on the
Paris Agreement till 2080, driving the transition of the continent’s
energy system. Called the Clean Energy Package,
it will create a transboundary, continent-wide energy system that
better integrates renewables, improves efficiency and empowers consumer
choice. Even after Brexit, the UK will likely remain connected to this
market, as both the EU and the UK share the objective of achieving net zero carbon by 2050
If humanity is to achieve its goal of fully and speedily
transitioning to low-carbon energy while ensuring affordable access for
all, then we must stay focused and committed and continue to cooperate
internationally. The future of the generations that follow depends on
it.
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