LAW5806 Energy Law — Unit 2: Energy, Climate Change and Sustainable Development

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Unit 2: Energy, Climate Change and Sustainable Development

2.1 Energy Trilemma

The energy trilemma — three goals in tension:

Energy security: reliable supply (no dark hospitals).
Energy equity: affordable access for all.
Environmental sustainability: low-carbon, low-impact energy.

Every energy policy is a point on the trilemma’s triangle: coal is cheap-ish and secure but dirty; rooftop solar is clean and equitable at the margin but variable; large hydro is low-carbon and secure but carries social-ecological costs. The law’s job: manage the trade-offs honestly — subsidies, standards, and planning rules are the trilemma’s instruments.

2.2 Fundamentals of Climate Change and Sustainable Development

Climate change: greenhouse-gas accumulation warms the planet; energy is the largest emitting sector. Sustainable development: meeting present needs without compromising future generations (the Brundtland formula) — its three pillars: economic, social, environmental.

2.2.1 UNFCCC and the Conference of the Parties (COP)

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992) — the umbrella treaty: stabilization of greenhouse gases, common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR). Its supreme body, the COP, meets annually (the Paris COP21 of 2015; the Glasgow, Sharm el-Sheikh, and Dubai COPs since; each COP a rule-implementation and finance negotiation). Nepal, a party, participates with the LDC (least-developed countries) group’s positions.

2.2.2 Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol (1997) — the first-generation implementation: binding targets for developed countries (Annex I), the flexibility mechanisms (clean development mechanism — CDM; joint implementation; emissions trading). Nepal accessed CDM projects (biogas, micro-hydro) — the Protocol’s developing-country face. Its first commitment period ended; its logic partially carried into Paris.

2.2.3 Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement (2015): holding warming well below 2°C, pursuing 1.5°C; nationally determined contributions (NDCs) — every party’s self-pledge, ratcheted upward on five-year cycles; adaptation and loss and damage recognized; transparency framework. Nepal ratified in 2016 — from the verified treaty history of earlier semesters’ studies.

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