Climate and Energy Law

Building Sustainable Global Governance for the 21st Century
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-31867-5
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 240 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Routledge Research in Energy Law and Regulation

This book offers a bold and timely rethinking of how sustainable energy transitions can be achieved in an era of climate urgency and geopolitical uncertainty. Challenging the traditional top-down model of governance, the volume advances a compelling argument for a bottom-up transformation driven by citizens, prosumers, cities, and new market actors.

The book locates this shift within a broader structural transformation of the energy sector, namely from supply-driven systems to demand-side governance centered on electrification, renewable energy, efficiency, smart grids, and digital innovation. By integrating legal, economic, technological, and policy perspectives, it demonstrates how decentralization, democratization, digitalization, deregulation, and decarbonization are reshaping global energy governance. Combining theoretical analysis with practical EU-based case studies, the book explores smart grids, collaborative economics, decentralized energy markets, and the evolving role of prosumers in ensuring energy security and sustainability. It also addresses critical challenges, including cybersecurity, infrastructure finance, and regulatory design.

Bridging trade, energy, climate change, and sustainability, this work highlights a crucial knowledge gap and offers an innovative governance framework fit for the 21st century. Essential reading for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners in climate law, energy law, and global governance, the book provides a forward-looking blueprint for building a more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable global energy order.

Zielgruppe

Academic

Autoren/Hrsg.

Leal-Arcas, Rafael

Fachgebiete

• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Klimawandel, Globale Erwärmung
• Rechtswissenschaften Öffentliches Recht Umweltrecht Umweltrecht allg., Technikrecht, Immissionsschutzrecht
• Rechtswissenschaften Öffentliches Recht Energierecht
• Rechtswissenschaften Internationales Recht und Europarecht Internationales Recht Internationales Handels-, Wirtschafts- und Gesellschaftsrecht

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction

1. Decentralization and Citizen Agency in Energy Governance

2. Smart Grids and the Reconfiguration of Citizen Participation

3. Decentralized Energy Systems in the European Union: Empirical Insights and Policy Implications

4. Innovation, Research, and Technological Transformation in the Energy Transition

Conclusion and a Future Research Agenda

Über Autor(innen)

Rafael Leal-Arcas is a distinguished scholar in European and international economic law, international trade, climate change law, energy governance, and public policy. He holds advanced degrees from the European University Institute, Stanford Law School, Columbia Law School, and the London School of Economics, and is qualified as a barrister and solicitor in Madrid. He has held senior roles including Jean Monnet Chair, LLM Program Director, and Director of Research at Queen Mary University of London, and currently serves as Professor at Alfaisal University College of Law and International Relations. He has published extensively and led major EU-funded research projects.