The International Law Of Energy

The world's energy structure underpins the global environmental crisis and changing it will require regulatory change at a massive level. Energy is highly regulated in international law, but the field has never been comprehensively mapped. The legal sources on which the governance of energy is based are plentiful but they are scattered across a vast legal expanse. This book is the first single-authored study of the international law of energy as a whole. Written by a world-leading expert, it provides a comprehensive account of the international law of energy and analyses the implications of the ongoing energy transformation for international law. The study combines conceptual and doctrinal analysis of all the main rules, processes and institutions to consider the past, present and likely future of global energy governance. Providing a solid foundation for teaching, research and practice, this book addresses both the theory and real-world policy dimension of the international law of energy.

International energy law is an elusive but important concept. There is no body of law called Šinternational energy law�, nor is there any universally accepted definition for it, yet many specialised areas of international law have a direct relationship

"There are many drivers of the epoch-defining environmental crisis that the biosphere - and humankind as part of it - faces today, as we embark on the critical 2020-2030 decade. The main one, by many accounts, is the reliance by one species, humans, on a certain form of energy, derived from fossil fuels, as the backbone of their modern conception of 'civilisation'. Burning fossil fuels is not only at the roots of the environmental crisis, but at the foundations of how humans produce shelter, heat, food, transportation and most of their cultural products, including technology. From the narrow lenses of the social practice we call international law, energy may appear as a sub-topic, alongside so many others. In reality, international law is but one aspect of a wider order shaped, since the dawn of the so-called 'Industrial Revolution' in the late XVIII Century, by fossil fuel energy. Rather than a mere 'branch' of the narrow social practice of international law, it is international law which is an aspect of an energy order, a historical socio-technical regime. This socio-technical regime is, however, not like its predecessors. The fossil fuel-based order has come to encompass, by its Earth-shaping effects, the entire biosphere, including humanity. And we now understand that it challenges a much more profound layer of 'regulation', a resilient but threatened biospheric balance that was, for centuries, taken for granted"--

This book will discuss the legal tools offered by international law that can support foreign direct investment (FDI) in the renewable energy sector in the Global South. Promoting and increasing investment in the renewable energy sector is crucial for limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C and addressing energy poverty in the Global South. In this volume, Avidan Kent explores the various home-country measures (HCMs) offered by international law that support FDI in the renewable energy sector. This book provides a bird’s eye evaluation of HCMs from fields such as trade law, investment law, environmental law, development law and more. It reveals that while international law indeed offers many legal tools to support investors’ needs, the current legal framework is fragmented; most legal instruments were designed in isolation and the potential for mutually supportive, synergetic policies has been explored only to a limited extent. This fragmented reality is in contradiction to the notion of Policy Coherence for Development, which is increasingly gaining support in leading institutions in Europe and elsewhere. This book will provide recommendations on the manner in which HCMs can be connected in order to maximise their potential and boost investment in renewable energies in the developing world. International Law and Renewable Energy Investment in the Global South will be of great interest to scholars, students and practitioners of international law, energy studies, development studies and IR more broadly.

The international legal rules affecting renewable alternative energy resources are amongst the most important legal and environmental concerns of the near future. As traditional energy sources are depleted, new technologies are being developed to harness the potentials of wave, current and tidal energy, coastal wind power, offshore geothermal, polar energy resources and space-based solar collection. This book is the first comprehensive analysis of the legal rules governing the alternative energy resource potential of all international common areas - the high seas, the polar zones (especially Antarctica) and outer space. In a detailed, but precisely analyzed text, the book also reviews the international environmental rules affecting exploration, exploitation and use of internationally situated energy resources, alongside resources located offshore under national jurisdictions. This is accompanied by a critical look at the connection between efforts to control greenhouse gases and the growing interest in non-polluting alternatives found in the international "commons . The result is a work of unprecedented value for environmental and international law academics and practitioners, as well as those interested in environmental resource economics and politics.

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this book provides a systematic approach to legislation and legal practice concerning energy resources and production in International Energy Law. The book describes the administrative organization, regulatory framework, and relevant case law pertaining to the development, application, and use of such forms of energy as electricity, gas, petroleum, and coal, with attention as needed to the pervasive legal effects of competition law, environmental law, and tax law. A general introduction covers the geography of energy resources, sources and basic principles of energy law, and the relevant governmental institutions. Then follows a detailed description of specific legislation and regulation affecting such factors as documentation, undertakings, facilities, storage, pricing, procurement and sales, transportation, transmission, distribution, and supply of each form of energy. Case law, intergovernmental cooperation agreements, and interactions with environmental, tax, and competition law are explained. Its succinct yet scholarly nature, as well as the practical quality of the information it provides, make this book a valuable resource for energy sector policymakers and energy firm counsel handling cases affecting International Energy Law. It will also be welcomed by researchers and academics for its contribution to the study of a complex field that today stands at the foreground of comparative law.

Many developments in energy production and use involve underground resources. Fracking to capture oil and gas resources, storage of harmful carbon gases, and long-term disposal of waste have large implications for the future. This book provides a clear and insightful overview of the law and policy issues surrounding these new technologies.

Provides the first scholarly and comprehensive book on the national renewable energy laws of every country that has them (113 countries).