Is It Possible to Have Energy Governance at the Global Level?

Abstract

This chapter argues that the international community faces an increasing number of energy-related problems, such as the need to ensure energy security, eliminate energy poverty, and most importantly, tackle the current climate crisis. An increasingly popular solution that has been put forward is the idea of global energy governance. However, the current trend, instead, suggests that nations prefer to set up regional energy governance frameworks. This may, at first glance, appear to be inimical to the establishment of global energy governance. However, the author argues in this chapter that this is not the case. This is because of three different reasons. First, the establishment of different regional energy governance frameworks that work together to create a global energy governance framework provides benefits that a top-down global energy governance framework cannot provide. Second, the setting up of regional energy governance frameworks is conducive to global energy governance. Lastly, it is possible for regional energy governance frameworks to work with one another to set up a global energy governance framework. This chapter ends off by envisaging a possible way for cooperation between regional energy governance frameworks to take place and what can be done to promote cooperation.