Questões de Concurso – Aprova Concursos

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              Energy Transition in a Transnational World
      Within the sphere of environmental law, the climate crisis is 
increasingly understood to be an intersectional challenge that 
implicates and exacerbates existing systemic challenges and 
prevailing pathways of inequality. From this vantage point climate 
change also creates opportunities for rethinking the role of law in 
limiting the destructive impacts of climate change and moving 
towards a more sustainable and equitable world in the process. 
This view is advanced by the climate justice movement, which is 
swelling in influence worldwide. Drawing from the environmental 
justice movement, the climate justice movement exposes not only 
how social and economic inequality has led to and perpetuates 
patterns of climate change, but also how climate change deepens 
inequality by disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable 
members of society. Climate justice seeks greater emphasis on this 
issue and advocates on the part of those most affected by climate 
change. The movement envisions a world which simultaneously 
curtails the negative effects of climate change and reshapes 
existing social, political, and economic relationships along the way.
    Amidst the overlapping crises of modern times, the modern 
climate justice movement is reviving dialogue at the intersection of 
feminism, environmentalism, social and economic justice, and other 
progressive law reform movements, as well as creating the space 
and momentum for intersectional ideas to flourish. For lawyers and 
legal scholars, the opportunity is to see climate change and 
environmental degradation within its broader social context and to 
seize upon the rule of law as a powerful tool for change.

    Nowhere are these intersecting challenges as acute as in the 
context of energy. One of the principal aims of the climate justice 
movement is to achieve a just and equitable transition from an 
extractive economy to a regenerative economy. This requires 
transitioning from fossil fuel-dependent to low and zero-carbon 
economies. However, the pathways for overhauling energy 
systems worldwide remain indeterminate. Energy systems are 
evolving in response to a combination of law and policy changes, 
developments in energy technologies, and market forces. 
Moreover, given both the entrenched nature of fossil fuel 
economies and the varied social, political, economic, and 
environmental factors that shape energy transition, pathways to 
decarbonization are bound to be beset with complex trade-offs, 
such as those between energy security and environmental 
objectives, or between energy choice and economies of scale. The 
precise contours of these systemic changes vary from country to 
country, and remain under-explored both within their national 
contexts and from a broader transnational perspective. This 
knowledge gap is critical. Understanding how, why, and to what 
end states are restructuring their energy economies is essential for 
transitioning to more environmentally sustainable and just 
societies worldwide. In short, this is an area in need of 
experimentation and iterative learning. It is a subject ripe for 
greater scholarly focus, particularly at the transnational level, 
where improved learning and sharing is indispensable for 
achieving the global-level shifts needed to address climate change.

Adapted from: Etty, Thijs et al. “Energy Transition in a Transnational World.” 
Transnational Environmental Law 10.2 (2021): 197–204. Available at 
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/transnational-environmental-law/article/energy-transition-in-a-transnationalworld/9F9D4229588B39C0E5916DFBE82EA046