Climate change presents one of the biggest threat to human societies and the planet. In order to effectively strengthen the global response to climate change, 195 countries agreed a long-term goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial. Now, governments are expected to turn these commitments into action. Keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C can only be achieved with the massive deployment of renewable forms of energy such as wind, solar and hydro, combined with energy efficiency. However, various analyses (IEA, IRENA) indicate that global investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy are not consistent with the goal set by the Paris Agreement. Governments are equipped with various legal tools designed to attract private investments, such as taxes on carbon emissions, measures aimed at transferring an economic advantage to firms and companies investing in renewables in form of grants, loans, tax incentives or pricing support (e.g. feed-in tariffs). Effectiveness of renewable energy subsidies is emphasised also by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Compliance of subsidies with international law is addressed by the authors in Chapter 13. They provide an overview of WTO disputes involving subsidies in the renewable energy sector and analyse particularly important decisions in the Canada – Renewable Energy and Canada – Feed-in Tariff Program disputes. These disputes highlight tensions arising from the inherent lack of coherence and coordination among different WTO Agreements and the insufficiency of current interpretive tools. Especially non-inclusion of ‘energy’ or ‘renewable energy’ in any WTO agreement makes difficult to weigh the positive externalities of renewable energy use against the negative ones created by fossil fuels when evaluating national policies. The authors conclude that adoption of a more flexible interpretation of WTO Agreements can significantly contribute to the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement and facilitate transition to a low-carbon economy.
PDFPDFStay tuned for news on sustainable development, environment and climate change, international trade and human rights, Chinese issues and much more!
.png)
