Climate Change Mitigation and Renewable Energy Sources: International Legal Issues

Renewable energy today plays an important role in the decarbonization of the economy and, accordingly, in combating climate change processes. There is no specific international treaty regulating renewable energy sources per se. In the article we analyzed provisions on renewable energy and climate change that are contained in the UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol, the Statute of International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative, the Green Climate Fund, the Paris-Nairobi Climate Initiative, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and related international climate change negotiations and declarations. At the same time, the practice of resolving disputes of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body shows that subsidizing the development of renewable energy sources is contrary to the WTO law, it is causing some concern. In conclusion, the authors note that a strategic tuning plan for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (2016–2030), which pays considerable attention to improving the efficiency of using renewable energy sources, should be a definite tuning fork for the international community in this regard. The authors also notice the great importance of fulfilling their nationally determined contributions made under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the interdependence and complementarity of the international legal obligations of states under SDG 7 and 13 and the 2015 Paris Agreement. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.