Abstract
Electricity is the lifeblood of modern economies. Demand for electricity has been growing rapidly and an end is not in sight. At the beginning of the 21st century, it is difficult to imagine any production process or service sector that does not rely on electricity to deliver the goods and services the society wants. The introductory Chapter of this book sets the scene for the ensuing legal analysis and sheds light on the current state of research on the topic.
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Notes
- 1.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), electricity demand has increased by around 70% since the year 2000. See Bouckert and Goodson (2019).
- 2.
A WTO dispute settlement panel has recognized the important role of electricity in an obiter dictum by stating: ‘Electricity is the lifeblood of modern society. Yet it is invisible to the naked eye and often unnoticed in the day-to-day lives of billions of people. There is little doubt, however, that reliable systems of electricity are the engines that drive economies world-wide, bringing power to a host of consumers for a myriad of uses and applications including in homes, factories, offices, farms, transportation systems and telecommunications networks. Most goods depend upon electricity for their production, as do essential services ranging from healthcare to banking. Few discoveries can boast such wide-ranging impacts on the quality of human life as electricity.’ WTO, Canada – Measures Relating to the Feed-in Tariff Program, Report of the Panel (19 December 2012) WT/DS426/R [7.10].
- 3.
United Nations (2021b), Sustainable Development Goals, SDG 7 (‘Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all’). The main indicator for the sub-target of ensuring universal access to modern energy by 2030 (SDG 7.1) is the proportion of the population with access to electricity. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg7.
- 4.
United Nations (2021a), Sustainable Development Goals https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/energy/.
- 5.
International Energy Agency, SDG7: Data and Projections (November 2019) https://www.iea.org/reports/sdg7-data-and-projections/access-to-electricity.
- 6.
United Nations (2021a).
- 7.
Xi Jinping, Remarks at the UN Sustainable Development Summit (26 September 2015), https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/20548china.pdf.
- 8.
One notable measure was the establishment of the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO) with headquarters in Beijing and regional offices on several continents. GEIDCO regularly convenes high-level stakeholders and advances research on interconnections and high-voltage transmission technology.
- 9.
- 10.
- 11.
- 12.
Gudas (2018).
- 13.
- 14.
One notable exception is Espa (2017).
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Frey, C. (2022). General Introduction. In: World Trade Law and the Emergence of International Electricity Markets. European Yearbook of International Economic Law(), vol 25. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04756-5_1
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