Ensuring Universal Access to Modern Energy Services in Times of Pandemic Related Disruptions: Legal Challenges and Potential Responses

Abstract

The significant disruptions to global energy markets across the
world, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, has shown that without
robust law and governance frameworks to mitigate and manage
pandemic-related disruptions to energy supply, global efforts to
achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals may be
stifled.
This article examines legal and governance aspects of designing and
implementing disaster risk reduction and resilience (DRRR)
frameworks to ensure the security of energy supply in times of
pandemic related disruptions. Various legal and institutional
challenges that arise with extant DRRR frameworks, such as weak
conceptualization of pandemic related risks in extant legislation;
preexisting patterns of uneven energy access; gaps in data collection
and sharing with respect to pandemic risks; inadequate crosssectoral coordination amongst institutional actors, and resource
limitations are examined in order to identify the ways in which an
integrative legal framework on disaster management and resilience
planning can help close these gaps.
The study suggests that clear and comprehensive legislation that
recalibrate the scope of energy disruptions and improves data
collection and cross-sectoral knowledge sharing by relevant
institutional actors are significant steps towards protecting the
integrity and resilience of modern energy systems in times of
disruptive events such as pandemics.