ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the global transition to sustainable energy generation and use is well underway and has gained pace significantly. It presents a survey of the public international law and European Union (EU) sustainable energy regimes, showing the role that legal reform has played in both setting and meeting sustainable energy agendas in Europe. The chapter considers the largely indirect influence of public international law on sustainable energy generation and use. It considers the highly influential EU legal system, which has changed the international community's conception of renewables and energy efficiency. The international legal order relating to sustainable energy is complex, multi-layered and under construction. The core rules and principles of international environmental law, though not directly applicable to the energy sector, have influenced the evolution of energy policy and promoted sustainable energy. The Energy Charter political process undertook a modernization process resulting in, among other things, the adoption in 2015 of the non-binding International Energy Charter.
