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A human rights approach to energy: Realizing the rights of billions within ecological limits
Author(s) -
WewerinkeSingh Margaretha
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
review of european, comparative and international environmental law
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.37
H-Index - 18
eISSN - 2050-0394
pISSN - 2050-0386
DOI - 10.1111/reel.12412
Subject(s) - human rights , nexus (standard) , sustainable development , element (criminal law) , political science , climate change , mainstreaming , energy (signal processing) , law and economics , fundamental rights , economic system , environmental resource management , environmental ethics , sociology , law , economics , ecology , computer science , physics , special education , philosophy , quantum mechanics , biology , embedded system
Energy is central to both the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement and a prerequisite to the realization of human rights for billions of people. Yet the nexus between human rights, climate change and energy remains underdeveloped in international law and practice. This article considers the potential and limitations of a ‘human rights approach’ to energy to accelerate progress towards universal access to modern energy services while addressing climate change and inequalities. It considers three distinct elements of a human rights approach to energy: a discursive element; a mainstreaming element; and a litigation element. In exploring the potential contributions of each of these elements to a just energy transition, it demonstrates how a human rights approach to energy can help to address some of the shortcomings of the Sustainable Development Goals related to energy and climate.