Abstract
The last decade has witnessed the emergence and rise of trade disputes over renewable energy support measures. By pitting trade against the environment, these disputes ignited a considerable debate over the adequacy of the green policy space available under WTO law. This article examines whether and to what extent the first ten years of litigation settled the key issues in this debate by undertaking a systematic analysis of the developments in the case law and in the renewable energy policy landscape. The analysis reveals that the case law has raised more questions than answers and much uncertainty remains as to the scope of the policy space available for the subsidization of renewables. It also highlights how these disputes steered the debate away from the most contentious issue of subsidy regulation to the slam-dunk issue of non-discrimination. In doing so, they helped conceal rather than resolve the green policy space deficit in multilateral renewable energy subsidy governance.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 455–478 |
Number of pages | 24 |
Journal | World Trade Review |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 4 |
Early online date | 18 Jul 2022 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Oct 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Cambridge University Press.
Keywords
- WTO
- SCM agreement
- renewable energy subsidies
- local content requirements
- energy transition
- climate change