Legal Aspects of Environmental Governance Related to Renewable Energy Development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55885/jprsp.v4i3.650Keywords:
Renewable Energy, Legal Frameworks, Policy Implementation, Environmental GovernanceAbstract
Renewable energy development is a cornerstone of global efforts to combat climate change and achieve sustainable development. This study, a comprehensive literature review, explores the legal and regulatory frameworks that govern renewable energy transitions at both international and national levels. The findings highlight the critical role of international agreements, such as the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in setting the global agenda for renewable energy adoption. Additionally, national legal systems, including policies like feed-in tariffs, tax incentives, and priority grid access, are instrumental in translating international commitments into actionable strategies. Despite significant progress, the study identifies persistent challenges in legal and regulatory implementation, including policy inconsistency, insufficient harmonization of environmental and energy regulations, limited institutional capacity, and infrastructure deficiencies. These barriers are exacerbated in developing countries, where weak governance structures and socio-political resistance further hinder renewable energy deployment. The study underscores the need for stronger integration of environmental and renewable energy policies, capacity-building initiatives, and inclusive stakeholder engagement to overcome these challenges. By analyzing existing legal frameworks and their implementation challenges, this research contributes to the understanding of how governance systems can be optimized to accelerate renewable energy transitions. The findings provide valuable insights for policymakers, legal practitioners, and stakeholders aiming to enhance the effectiveness of renewable energy governance and achieve sustainable energy goals.
References
Abdmouleh, Z., Alammari, R. A., & Gastli, A. (2015). Review of policies encouraging renewable energy integration & best practices. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 45, 249-262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.01.035
Abraham‐Dukuma, M. C., Dioha, M. O., Okpaleke, F. N., & Bogado, N. (2022). Improving the climate change mitigation regime of major emitting countries: The case of South Africa, China, Germany and the United States of America. Environmental Policy and Governance, 32(1), 43-55. https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.1961
Absori, A., Yulianingrum, A. V., Hasmiati, R. A., & Budiono, A. (2021). Government policies for the natural resource management of minerals and coal based on social welfare. Pena Justisia: Media Komunikasi dan Kajian Hukum, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.31941/pj.v20i1.1715
Azam, M. (2021). A journey from Rio to Paris via Kyoto to facilitate technology transfer to the LDCs under the UNFCCC. Journal of Property, Planning and Environmental Law, 13(1), 60-84. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPPEL-05-2020-0024
Bringezu, S., Potočnik, J., Schandl, H., Lu, Y., Ramaswami, A., Swilling, M., & Suh, S. (2016). Multi-scale governance of sustainable natural resource use—challenges and opportunities for monitoring and institutional development at the national and global level. Sustainability, 8(8), 778. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8080778
Buttel, F., & Taylor, P. (2013). Environmental sociology and global environmental change: a critical assessment. In Social theory and the global environment (pp. 228-255). London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203427903
Christoforidis, T., & Katrakilidis, C. (2021). The dynamic role of institutional quality, renewable and non-renewable energy on the ecological footprint of OECD countries: do institutions and renewables function as leverage points for environmental sustainability?. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28(38), 53888-53907. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13877-8
Citelli, M., Barassi, M., & Belykh, K. (2014). Renewable energy in the international arena: legal aspects and cooperation. Groningen Journal of International Law, 2(1).
Davies, M. L. (2021). South Africa's contested transition to energy democracy: lessons and struggles from the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (Doctoral dissertation, Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University).
De Laurentis, C. (2021). What are the regionally specific institutions that matter for renewable energy deployment and how can they be identified? Some insights from Italian regions. Local Environment, 26(5), 632-649. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2021.1904859
del Guayo, I., & Cuesta, Á. (2022). Towards a just energy transition: a critical analysis of the existing policies and regulations in Europe. The Journal of World Energy Law & Business, 15(3), 212-222. https://doi.org/10.1093/jwelb/jwac010
Elum, Z. A., & Momodu, A. S. (2017). Climate change mitigation and renewable energy for sustainable development in Nigeria: A discourse approach. Renewable and sustainable energy reviews, 76, 72-80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.03.040
Gan, K. E., Taikan, O., Gan, T. Y., Weis, T., Yamazaki, D., & Schüttrumpf, H. (2023). Enhancing renewable energy systems, contributing to Sustainable Development Goals of United Nation and building resilience against climate change impacts. Energy Technology, 11(11), 2300275. https://doi.org/10.1002/ente.202300275
Hassan, Q., Viktor, P., Al-Musawi, T. J., Ali, B. M., Algburi, S., Alzoubi, H. M., ... & Jaszczur, M. (2024). The renewable energy role in the global energy Transformations. Renewable Energy Focus, 48, 100545. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ref.2024.100545
He, Y., Xu, Y., Pang, Y., Tian, H., & Wu, R. (2016). A regulatory policy to promote renewable energy consumption in China: Review and future evolutionary path. Renewable Energy, 89, 695-705. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2015.12.047
Healy, N., & Barry, J. (2017). Politicizing energy justice and energy system transitions: Fossil fuel divestment and a “just transition”. Energy policy, 108, 451-459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.06.014
Heffron, R. J. (2022). Applying energy justice into the energy transition. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 156, 111936. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.111936
Hoang, A. T., Nižetić, S., Olcer, A. I., Ong, H. C., Chen, W. H., Chong, C. T., ... & Nguyen, X. P. (2021). Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the global energy system and the shift progress to renewable energy: Opportunities, challenges, and policy implications. Energy Policy, 154, 112322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112322
Hunt, J., Riley, B., O’Neill, L., & Maynard, G. (2021). Transition to renewable energy and indigenous people in northern Australia: enhancing or inhibiting capabilities?. Journal of human development and capabilities, 22(2), 360-378. https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2021.1901670
Jacobson, M. Z., & Delucchi, M. A. (2011). Providing all global energy with wind, water, and solar power, Part I: Technologies, energy resources, quantities and areas of infrastructure, and materials. Energy policy, 39(3), 1154-1169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2010.11.040
Jenkins, K. E., Sovacool, B. K., Mouter, N., Hacking, N., Burns, M. K., & McCauley, D. (2021). The methodologies, geographies, and technologies of energy justice: a systematic and comprehensive review. Environmental Research Letters, 16(4), 043009. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abd78c
Jenkins, K., Sovacool, B. K., & McCauley, D. (2018). Humanizing sociotechnical transitions through energy justice: An ethical framework for global transformative change. Energy policy, 117, 66-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.02.036
Joshi, J. (2021). Do renewable portfolio standards increase renewable energy capacity? Evidence from the United States. Journal of Environmental Management, 287, 112261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112261
Khamzina, A., Mukatov, B., Assylkhan, A., Omirgaliyev, R., Mankovska, N., & Zhakiyev, N. (2025). Critical Analysis of Tariff Policy and Legislative Measures for Renewable Energy Development: Medium-Term Challenges and Prospects of Kazakhstan. ES Energy and Environment, 28, 1560. http://dx.doi.org/10.30919/ee1560
Klein, F. B., Hill, A. D., Hammond, R., & Stice-Lusvardi, R. (2021). The gender equity gap: A multistudy investigation of within-job inequality in equity-based awards. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(5), 734. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000809
Lam, P. T., & Law, A. O. (2018). Financing for renewable energy projects: A decision guide by developmental stages with case studies. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 90, 937-944. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2018.03.083
Lau, L. C., Lee, K. T., & Mohamed, A. R. (2012). Global warming mitigation and renewable energy policy development from the Kyoto Protocol to the Copenhagen Accord—A comment. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16(7), 5280-5284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2012.04.006
Leal-Arcas, R., & Minas, S. (2016). The micro level: Insights from specific policy areas: Mapping the international and European governance of renewable energy. Yearbook of European Law, 35(1), 621-666. https://doi.org/10.1093/yel/yew022
Liu, J., Zhang, D., Cai, J., & Davenport, J. (2021). Legal systems, national governance and renewable energy investment: evidence from around the world. British Journal of Management, 32(3), 579-610. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12377
Ma, S., Schaub, S., & Enguer, J. (2025). Regulatory and policy stability for renewable energy investment: An interdisciplinary analysis of the investment disputes against Spain. Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law. https://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12619
Madouri, H. (2025). Green finance and renewable energy investments: a comparative analysis of successes, challenges, and policy implications across regions. The Central European Review of Economics and Management, 9(2), 7-35. https://doi.org/10.29015/cerem.1022
Matschoss, P., Bayer, B., Thomas, H., & Marian, A. (2019). The German incentive regulation and its practical impact on the grid integration of renewable energy systems. Renewable Energy, 134, 727-738. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2018.10.103
McCauley, D., & Heffron, R. (2018). Just transition: Integrating climate, energy and environmental justice. Energy policy, 119, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.04.014
Mor, S., Aneja, R., Madan, S., & Ghimire, M. (2024). Kyoto protocol and Paris agreement: Transition from bindings to pledges–A Review. Millennial Asia, 15(4), 690-711. https://doi.org/10.1177/09763996221141546
Mundaca, L., Busch, H., & Schwer, S. (2018). ‘Successful’low-carbon energy transitions at the community level? An energy justice perspective. Applied Energy, 218, 292-303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.02.146
Olabi, A. G., & Abdelkareem, M. A. (2022). Renewable energy and climate change. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 158, 112111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2022.112111
Owusu, P. A., & Asumadu-Sarkodie, S. (2016). A review of renewable energy sources, sustainability issues and climate change mitigation. Cogent Engineering, 3(1), 1167990. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311916.2016.1167990
Recalde, M. Y. (2016). The different paths for renewable energies in Latin American Countries: the relevance of the enabling frameworks and the design of instruments. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, 5(3), 305-326. https://doi.org/10.1002/wene.190
Sánchez, A. S., Torres, E. A., & Kalid, R. D. A. (2015). Renewable energy generation for the rural electrification of isolated communities in the Amazon Region. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 49, 278-290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.04.075
Sarkar, A. N. (2010). Global climate change and sustainable energy development: focus on emerging issues and strategies for the Asia-Pacific region. Strategic planning for energy and the environment, 30(1), 18-79. https://doi.org/10.1080/10485236.2010.10121747
Sen, S., & Ganguly, S. (2017). Opportunities, barriers and issues with renewable energy development–A discussion. Renewable and sustainable energy reviews, 69, 1170-1181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.09.137
Sovacool, B. K., Heffron, R. J., McCauley, D., & Goldthau, A. (2016). Energy decisions reframed as justice and ethical concerns. Nature Energy, 1(5), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.111936
Spijkerboer, R. C., Zuidema, C., Busscher, T., & Arts, J. (2019). Institutional harmonization for spatial integration of renewable energy: Developing an analytical approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 209, 1593-1603. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.11.008
Strunz, S., Lehmann, P., & Gawel, E. (2021). Analyzing the ambitions of renewable energy policy in the EU and its Member States. Energy Policy, 156, 112447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112447
Upham, P., Sovacool, B., & Ghosh, B. (2022). Just transitions for industrial decarbonisation: A framework for innovation, participation, and justice. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 167, 112699. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2022.112699
Walz, R. (2007). The role of regulation for sustainable infrastructure innovations: the case of wind energy. International Journal of Public Policy, 2(1-2), 57-88. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJPP.2007.012276
Wu, X., Fu, B., Wang, S., Song, S., Li, Y., Xu, Z., ... & Liu, J. (2022). Decoupling of SDGs followed by re-coupling as sustainable development progresses. Nature Sustainability, 5(5), 452-459. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00868-x
Xin, Y., Bin Dost, M. K., Akram, H., & Watto, W. A. (2022). Analyzing Pakistan’s renewable energy potential: a review of the country’s energy policy, its challenges, and recommendations. Sustainability, 14(23), 16123. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142316123
Zhang, X., Feng, D., Wang, J., & Sui, A. (2024). Integrating renewable energy systems: Assessing financial innovation, renewable energy generation intensity, energy transition and environmental regulation with renewable energy sources. Energy Strategy Reviews, 56, 101567. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esr.2024.101567
Zhou, S., Matisoff, D. C., Kingsley, G. A., & Brown, M. A. (2019). Understanding renewable energy policy adoption and evolution in Europe: The impact of coercion, normative emulation, competition, and learning. Energy Research & Social Science, 51, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2018.12.011
Žičkienė, A., Morkunas, M., Volkov, A., Balezentis, T., Streimikiene, D., & Siksnelyte-Butkiene, I. (2022). Sustainable energy development and climate change mitigation at the local level through the lens of renewable energy: Evidence from Lithuanian case study. Energies, 15(3), 980. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15030980
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Journal of Public Representative and Society Provision

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.












