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Energy transition is a complex global problem, with governance and policies cutting across multiple legal silos including human rights, environment, international economics, finance, energy, law of the sea, and transnational commerce. As of yet, there is no comprehensive treatment of the legal principles governing energy transition as a whole. Furthermore, energy transition must solve a trilemma that pits energy equity (the need to provide access to energy needed to fuel human development) and energy security (the need to provide resilient and reliable energy systems) against environmental sustainability. Without a comprehensive understanding of these issues, law and policy-makers risk exacerbating rather than resolving the underlying problems. Principles of International Energy Transition Law introduces the energy transition problem by situating the climate emergency in its broader energy and development context, showing how global energy value chains are deeply enmeshed in and drive global economic and human development. It combines the different legal perspectives in one consistent analysis by outlining their interactions and showing how they can be reconciled. The book discusses thirty-two international legal principles governing different aspects of the energy transition trilemma's three parts. It then uses a commons governance perspective to propose a holistic approach to applying and balancing these different parts and their different legal principles. Highlighted sections summarise the most important concepts and ideas for easy reference, making the title particularly accessible for students and policy-makers as well as law practitioners.
List of contents
- Part I The Legal and Institutional Framework
- 1: What Is Energy Transition?
- 2: Why Energy Transition?
- 3: How Can Energy Transition Take Place?
- 4: Governance of Energy Transition Policies
- 5: International Law-making and Fragmentation
- 6: Polycentricity, Fragmentation, and the Energy Trilemma
- Part II The Energy Transition Principles
- 7: The Climate Principles
- 8: The Energy Equity Principles
- 9: The Energy Security Principles
- 10: The Environmental Sustainability Principles
- 11: Community and Indigenous Rights Principles
- 12: Conflict and Convergence of Energy Transition Principles
- Part III Implementing the Energy Transition Principles
- 13: Due Diligence
- 14: Stakeholder Engagement
- 15: Liability and Dispute Settlement
About the author
Frédéric G. Sourgens is the James McCulloch Chair in Energy Law at Tulane University Law School. Previously, he taught law at Washburn University. He serves on the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law (ASIL), and the boards of the American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA) and the Center for American and International Law (CAIL ex officio). He is Vice Chair of the Institute for Energy Law (IEL) and Chair of the Southwest Institute for International and Comparative Law (SWIICL).
Leonardo Sempertegui teaches energy transition law and policy at Georgetown Law Center (Washington, DC). He has served as general legal counsel at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) since 2018 and has extensive experience as a legal and policy advisor for governments, private corporations, international organizations, academia, and NGOs. He is a member of the Board of the Association of Energy International Negotiators (AIEN), and served in several capacities on committees for the American Bar Association (ABA) and International Bar Association (IBA).
Summary
Principles of International Energy Transition Law provides a succinct treatment of the legal principles that govern the transition to green energy. The book positions energy transition in a broader energy context and outlines the interactions between different legal disciplines, giving direction on how they can be reconciled.
