Abstract
With a rapidly expanding market, renewable energy is accounting for a significant share of recent trade disputes, both at the World Trade Organization and through unilateral trade remedy measures. This chapter analyses various industrial and trade policy measures, which have contributed to protectionist outcomes and resulted in clean energy trade disputes. It examines the dispute settlement process to inquire whether it has provided adequate legal guidance to maintain open markets for clean energy. It discusses proposals for alternative mechanisms, from revisions in WTO rules to separate treaties altogether for sustainable energy. It concludes by outlining three areas of further inquiry: identifying winners and losers; the implications of pricing of energy and externalities for trade disputes; and the role of institutions in mediating trade conflict.
The author is very grateful to Antara Khaitan for her excellent research assistance.
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Ghosh, A. (2016). Clean Energy Trade Conflicts: The Political Economy of a Future Energy System. In: Van de Graaf, T., Sovacool, B., Ghosh, A., Kern, F., Klare, M. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of the International Political Economy of Energy. Palgrave Handbooks in IPE. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55631-8_7
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