Fossil fuel and the global energy transition: regulation and standardisation as panacea for a more sustainable world energy order / O combustível fóssil e a transição energética global: regulação e normalização como panaceia para uma ordem energética mundial mais sustentável

The transition from fossil fuels to more sustainable sources of energy has become a topical issue that is likely to remain in the front burner of stakeholders as governments and businesses gradually move towards low-carbon economies. This move has been partly accelerated by the need to combat climate change and greenhouse gases (GHG). The move towards more sustainable energy sources has led to an upsurge in the number of international mechanisms such as the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change (COP 15) (and a plethora of regional and domestic initiatives). Regulations and standardisation have been identified as strategic tools that can play critical roles in the drive towards energy transition. Regulation in this context refers to laws or other form of instruments with legal backing and having cohesiveness, while Standardisation entails the voluntary process of developing technical specifications based on consensus among stakeholders. The focus of this paper is how these two strategic tools interact and how they can be used to, enhance creativity, and further accelerate the drive towards energy transition and therefore more sustainable sources of energy.