Paolo Davide FARAH, West Virginia University (USA) & gLAWcal - Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development, (United Kingdom)
Abstract
Human societies have witnessed great developments in the last couple of centuries for many reasons, including the use of energy in particular conventional energy resources such as oil and gas. Such developments have resulted in a situation where each state has been seeking to ensure the existence of sufficient and constant energy supplies that allow the functioning of its society, the constant economic growth and the protection of national security. This has been the case where nations with great energy supplies have had the upper hand in geopolitics and in determining the market price. This is why numerous countries that lacked such energy supplies have adopted a strategy of ensuring good relations with the nations exporting conventional energy resources. Particularly, in the last couple decades,these nations have simultaneously started investing in alternative energy sources such as nuclear and renewable energies to reduce dependency on conventional energy sources. Additionally, while some nations have succeeded in using alternative energy sources to reduce such dependency, others have failed despite the huge investments made in this context. Even worse, many nations who have a huge amount of energy reserves have witnessed the so-called resource curse as the populations of these countries did not benefit at all from the exploitation of the natural resources. Yet, regardless of all these realities, energy is still considered as the main element that allows the development and progress of any nation, which is why the focus is on ensuring energy security by any means possible.
Jean Yves HEURTEBISE, FuJen Catholic University (Taiwan) & The French Centre for Research on Contemporary China- CEFC (Hong-Kong)
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to present the multidimensional issue of an “energy transition” from a philosophical, i.e. conceptual and analytical, point of view. The argument of this paper is that “energy transition” is not simply a technological and economic problem, but also an epistemological, cultural, anthropological and even metaphysical one. Energy transition does not only consist of changing the kind of energy that is produced and consumed to power our modern middle-income societies, from fossil-fuels to renewable energies. Energy transition asks us to understand what is implied in cultural and social terms by such a shift from“grey” to “green” sources of energy that does not only entail qualitative transformation, but also could imply quantitative curtailment. What will be the consequences of our necessary departure from “petromodernity”, i.e. from the mode of living that came with fossil-fuels in modern times that shape our current age of the Anthropocene? To address this question, different dimensions of the philosophy of energy will be studied: epistemological, phenomenological,anthropological, critical and metaphysical. In conclusion, we will, first, propose the notion of a “negative energy tax” to address the problems of “energy injustice”. We will then refer to Bataille to provide an ontology of energy that can help to redefine our assumptions and expectations regarding energy spending.
Anthi KOSKINA, College IdEF at UniversityParis XIII (France) & National and Kapodistrian University of Athens,Athens Public International Law Center (Greece); Paolo Davide FARAH, West Virginia University (USA) & gLAWcal - Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development (United Kingdom); Imad Antoine IBRAHIM, Institute of Law, Politics,and Development (Dirpolis), Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa (Italy)& gLAWcal – Global Law Initiative for Sustainable Development (United Kingdom)
Abstract
Global regulations involving clean energy technologies have evolved in recent decades. Such evolution came as a result of technological disparities between the North and the South. Such regulatory changes came because of the failure of developed nations to assist developing countries in obtaining said technologies. Since the beginning, international climate change law has attempted to alleviate the discrepancies in technology transfer regulations so as to introduce some form of unity, especially through various legislations, such as a global regulatory framework. In response, this article seeks to answer the following question: did international climate change law provide the necessary regulations to ensure technological accessibility to developing nations? This article will examine the accessibility of clean energy technology in relation to international climate law, especially highlighting the phases characterized by either technologic protection or international collaboration. These changes reflect a continuous cycle where both circumstances and events affect international climate change law and the relations with technology state of affairs.
Daria BOKLAN,National Research University “Higher School of Economics", Moscow(Russia), Olga BELOVA, National Research University Higher School of Economics,Moscow (Russia)
Abstract
Accession of Russia and Kazakhstan to the World Trade Organization (WTO) constitutes a landmark event in the history of this organization, especially in relation to trade in energy, in general, and trade in electricity, in particular. As a result, the role of the WTO in regulating trade in electricity has increasingly grown. However, the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union, a treaty that binds both Russia and Kazakhstan,necessitates additional regulation for trade in electricity, concurrent with law of the WTO. Recently, this treaty was amended by the Protocol on Common Electricity Market on July 1, 2019. As a result, compatibility issues between the rules of the WTO and the Eurasian Economic Union arise. This article concludes that the law of the WTO can be relevant to trade in electricity between member states of the Eurasian Economic Union and third countries because of the specific place of the rules of the WTO under the Eurasian Economic Union legal order.
Alexander Mikhailovich SOLNTSEV,People’s Friendship University of Russia, Moscow (Russia), Aslan Khuseinovich ABASHIDZE,People’s Friendship University of Russia, Moscow (Russia) and Vladimir Mikhailovich FILIPPOV, People’s Friendship University of Russia, Moscow(Russia)
Abstract
States have sovereign rights that allow them to construct nuclear power plants.Moreover, engaging with nuclear power generation makes possible the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (2016-2030) in combating climate change,paramount to the Paris Agreement’s initiatives. In the same vein, however,constructing and operating power plants pose strict dangers to both general safety of the public, and to national security. Thus, plant operations should strictly abide by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) standards and international law. As a result, it is important to consider the potential transboundary impacts of nuclear power plants and to conduct an appropriate transboundary environmental impact assessment (EIA). The article examines the construction of the Ostrovets Nuclear Power Plant by Belarus, close to the border of the Republic of Lithuania. The question in focus, however, is as follows: What international procedure can be used to coordinate issues of potentially negative transboundary impacts? Lithuania, in order to avoid the operation of the nuclear power plant, thus sought peaceful settlement of the dispute making use of the dispute resolution mechanisms based on international environmental agreements. The authors of this study show that the treaty bodies, established on the basis of international environmental agreements,provide important assistance in this matter in coordination with the IAEA. The use of these quasi-judicial means of resolving interstate disputes proves effective in pursuing a compromise between economic development and environmental protection. In the absence of such mechanisms at a universal level, one should consider utilizing such mechanisms in other regions of the world.
Barbara JANUSZ-PAWLETTA, UNESCO Chair Holder in Water Management in Central Asia, Kazakh-German University andAssociate Scholar of German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
Abstract
This article focuses on the regulations of the Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea (hereinafter as Caspian Sea Convention), which was adopted in 2018.It regulates the development and access to Caspian fossil fuel resources and protects its environment, which are important factors for the sustainable development of the region. The main finding of this paper is that the Caspian Sea Convention, having established the maritime zones, has, for the first time ever, recognized the territorial sovereignty of the individual riparian states in the Caspian Sea and defined its territorial scope. After presenting to the riparian states' their rights and obligations within the newly defined maritime zones, the paper analyzes the new legal framework for the development and use of the natural resources of the Caspian Sea. It also elaborates on the new legal regime for the transportation of resources by means of vessels and submarine pipelines.
Haifeng DENG, Tsinghua University Law School and Paolo Davide FARAH, West Virginia University (USA) & gLAWcal- Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development, (United Kingdom)
Abstract
National energy security, parallel with the ultimate goal of emissions reductions, is of utmost priority for the Chinese government. In order to comply with the requirements set by the Kyoto Protocol, the Chinese government announced, on November 25, 2009, that 2020’s CO2 emissions would be reduced by 40%-45% in accordance with the data collected from 2005. Said goal was met three years ahead of schedule. Even in light of such an accomplishment, however, commentators suggest that the overall nationally determined contributions (NDCs) made by the Parties belonging to the Paris agreement are not enough to reduce global warming by even 2°C.
This paper focuses on the concept of energy security in assessing whether, and how,the priorities related to climate change are gradually changing. After analyzing climate change’s impact on China, conducted via an analysis of the study’s available literature and through the support of international data,this article mainly focuses on the concept of energy security, itself. Under the second section, based on the examination of China’s efforts to transition towards a low-carbon economy, the authors provide a holistic definition of energy security through the lens of three dimensions: energy supply security,energy economy, and energy ecological security. The third section, in turn,addresses the relationship between energy security and climate change. The results presented in the conclusion insist that, in order to strengthen environmental protection in China, it is crucial to reform the highly inefficient and strictly regulated national energy market. In doing so, China’s transition to a low-carbon society and economy could prove less painful, as China’s available resources offer the potential for a strengthened ecological dimension and sustained socio-economic development.
Dong YAN, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Law School, Beijing (China), Paolo Davide FARAH, West Virginia University (USA) & gLAWcal - Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development, (United Kingdom), Tivadar ÖTVÖS,gLAWcal - Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development, (United Kingdom)& Baker & McKenzie Law Firm, Budapest (Hungary), Ivana GASKOVA, gLAWcal- Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development, (United Kingdom) &University Institute of European Studies – IUSE Turin (Italy)
Abstract
Considering that fact that its existence is abundant while maintaining the ability to generate freshwater while burning, methane hydrates have been classified as sources of sustainable energy. China currently maintains an international role in developing technology meant to explore offshore methane hydrates buried under the mud of the seabed, their primary laboratory being the South China Sea.However, such a process does not come without its hazards and fatal consequences ranging from the destruction of the flora and fauna, the general environment, and – the greatest hazard of all – the cost of human life. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (hereinafter ‘UNCLOS’), being an important international legal regime and instrument, has assigned damage control during the exploration of methane hydrates as being the responsibilities, and liability, of individual sovereign states and corporations. China adopted the Deep Seabed Mining Law (hereinafter the DSMLaw) on 26 February 2016, which came into force on the 1 of May 2016, a regulation providing the legal framework also for the Chinese government’s role in methane hydrate exploratory activities. This article examines the role of the DSM Law and its provisions, as well as several international documents intended to prevent transboundary environmental harm from arising as a result of offshore methane hydrate extraction. Despite the obvious risk of harm to the environment as a result of such activities, the DSM Law has made great strides in regulating exploratory activities so as to meet the criteria of the UNCLOS. However, this article argues that neither the UNCLOS nor the DSM Law are adequately prepared to address transboundary harm triggered by the exploitation of offshore methane hydrates. In particular, the technology of such extractionis still at an experimental stage, and potential risks remain uncertain – and even untraceable - for cross-jurisdictional claims. The article intends to seek available legal instruments, or models, to overhaul the incapacity within the current governing framework, and offers suggestions supporting national and international legislative efforts towards protecting the environment during methane hydrate extraction.
Paolo Davide FARAH, “Strategies to Balance Energy Security, Business, Trade and Sustainable Development: Selected Case Studies”, JOURNAL OF WORLD ENERGY LAW AND BUSINESS, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, Volume 13, Issue 2, April 2020.
Jean-Yves HEURTEBISE, “Philosophy of Energy and Energy Transition in the Age of the Petro-Anthropocene”, JOURNAL OF WORLD ENERGY LAW AND BUSINESS, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, Volume 13, Issue 2, April 2020.
Anthi KOSKINA, Paolo Davide FARAH and Imad Antoine IBRAHIM, “Trade in Clean Energy Technologies: Sliding from Protection to Protectionism through Obligations for Technology Transfer in Climate Change Law, or Vice Versa?”, JOURNAL OF WORLD ENERGY LAW AND BUSINESS, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, Volume 13, Issue 2, April 2020.
Daria BOKLAN and Olga BELOVA, “Trade in Electricity under WTO and EAEU Law: Compatibility of Two Legal Regimes”,JOURNAL OF WORLD ENERGY LAW AND BUSINESS, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS,Volume 13, Issue 2, April 2020.
Alexander Mikhailovich SOLNTSEV, Aslan Khuseinovich ABASHIDZE and Vladimir Mikhailovich FILIPPOV, “Belarusian Ostrovets Nuclear Power Plant: The Challenge of Cross-Border Negotiations to Balance Economic Development and Environmental Protection”, JOURNAL OF WORLD ENERGY LAW AND BUSINESS, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, Volume 13, Issue 2, April 2020.
Barbara JANUSZ-PAWLETTA, “Legal Framework for the Interstate Cooperation on Development and Transport of Fossil Natural Resources of the Caspian Sea”, JOURNAL OF WORLD ENERGY LAW AND BUSINESS, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, Volume 13, Issue 2, April 2020.
Haifeng DENG and Paolo Davide FARAH,“China’s Energy Policies and Strategies for Climate Change and Energy Security”,JOURNAL OF WORLD ENERGY LAW AND BUSINESS, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, Volume 13, Issue 2, April 2020.
Dong YAN, Paolo Davide FARAH, Tivadar ÖTVÖS and Ivana GASKOVA, “Governing the Transboundary Risks of Offshore Methane Hydrate Exploration in the Seabed and Ocean Floor — A Case Study on Existing International Provisions and Chinese Law”, JOURNAL OF WORLD ENERGY LAW AND BUSINESS, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, Volume 13, Issue 2, April 2020.
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