Trade, climate change and renewable energy: regulatory conflict or convergence?

Abstract

The research report seeks to explore the link between trade and the environment, with a particular focus on the renewable energy sector. The aim is to determine the tensions and unification amongst the regulatory tools of the World Trade Organisation and Climate Change Regimes will be discussed, in a manner that shows how trade can assist in mitigating or adapting to the effects of climate change. As such the intention of the report is to answer the question of how do we use trade to disseminate energy technology as set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (“SDGs”) in order to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, in both an international and South African context. The result, however, lead the need for more inclusive global regime that is less fragmented, over and above the need for improvement for domestic laws as well as infrastructure to generate electricity in order to provide for much more enabling approach to the investment of renewable energy.