The Vienna Briefs on Decarbonization, Energy & Development- An Introduction

Abstract

This is the introduction to the Vienna Briefs on Decarbonization, Energy & Development. Energy transition policy and regulation is an increasingly urgent topic. Yet, urgency most commonly does not go hand in hand with prudence or deliberation. Solving climate problems, therefore, is not something that occurs in a vacuum. One needs to consider the broader (including possible unintended) consequences of policy proposals and regulations to understand whether those proposals and regulations are sound. This Brief introduces a development-based perspective to understanding such broader consequences of decarbonization and outlines how such a perspective might helpfully be used to advance climate, energy and development discourses.

Keywords: climate change, energy law, Paris Agreement, decarbonization, development