Chapter 12 Green Energy as a Sustainable Development Model Leading to a Gradual Improvement of the Quality of Life

In: Global Public Goods and Sustainable Development in the Practice of International Organizations
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Anna Wójtowicz
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1 Introduction

The progressive process of globalization has resulted in numerous threats taking on a much broader dimension in the modern economy than before. New global problems have become apparent, i.e., the degradation of natural resources, climate change, and the strong dependence of many developed economies on imports of energy resources. These issues pose a real danger in today’s world, since a stable supply of energy is essential to any economy. Furthermore, the world is currently experiencing the severe effects of climate change, i.e., extreme weather events, floods, drought, melting glaciers, or rising sea and ocean levels. International organizations can play a significant role in overcoming these development barriers. Individual states are often unable to deal with the effects of global challenges on their own, which is why the role of international organizations as coordinators of activities aimed at managing global public goods is so important. Priority global public goods include energy conservation and environmental protection, covering the climate, and combating climate change. Managing the environment and energy efficiently is extremely important to improve the environment and human health, and stimulate economic growth through increased innovation, clean technologies, and the creation of new jobs.

Environmental and energy management can only be achieved through the wide distribution of green energy, which is perfectly compatible with the model of sustainable development. Equally, using green energy contributes to protecting the environment, increasing access to energy, and improving people’s quality of life. Renewable energy sources (RES) increase the diversification of energy supply and thus improve energy security. Furthermore, renewable resources are climate-neutral, limit environmental degradation, and are inexhaustible. Nevertheless, the development of green energy requires coordinated global efforts and costly investments in clean and modern technologies based primarily on the generation of energy from renewable sources. Thus, international organizations are focusing increasingly on managing global environmental and energy public goods. Examples of organizations taking action in this area include the United Nations (UN), the World Bank (WB), and the European Union (EU). It is also worth mentioning the financial institutions that support this type of investment. This is the European Investment Bank (EIB) within the European Union, while internationally, the financial institution that supports the green transition is the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

This chapter aims to show the importance of global public goods such as environmental protection and energy conservation, and to verify whether the actions taken by international organizations in favor of the green transition fit into the model of sustainable development. The analysis includes international organizations such as the UN, WB, and EBRD, but special attention is paid to the EU and EIB, as these organizations have taken on the extremely ambitious challenge of achieving EU climate neutrality by 2050.

This chapter is structured around the presented goal. The first section demonstrates the importance of global public goods (i.e., environmental protection and energy) in the UN concept of sustainable development. The second section of the chapter presents the key role of green energy in implementing environmental and energy sustainability objectives. The third and final section outlines how international organizations support the development of green energy to manage global public goods (i.e., environment and energy) effectively. In particular, it highlights activities undertaken by the WB and EBRD, but also pays attention to EU and EIB measures to achieve climate neutrality.

2 Environmental Protection and Energy: Relevance to the Concept of Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is a global concept of an interdisciplinary nature that is based on balanced economic, social, and environmental development. This concept is fluid in that it does not contain a well-defined range of activities, but rather evolves (changes) over time as new development challenges emerge. Sustainable development is most often defined as development that seeks to achieve intra- and intergenerational equity and ensure high ecological, economic, and sociocultural standards for all generations, within the Earth’s natural limits (Rogall, 2005, p. 12).

Intergenerational equity, i.e., making sure present and future generations have equal access to resources, plays a significant role in sustainable development. Energy resources are a very important resource and necessary for the smooth functioning of any economy. In today’s world, stable access to energy is critical to economic development. It has a significant impact on the world economy. Energy raw materials, which are a source of energy, are essential for the functioning and development of humanity, and when there is a shortage of energy raw materials, social, political, and economic problems arise, posing a significant threat to humanity. The supply of energy raw materials is, therefore, a global problem. That is why it is extremely important to manage the Earth’s natural resources in a sustainable manner, i.e., to ensure that they will also benefit future generations. If not exploited properly, even the quality of natural resources considered inexhaustible, such as air, can decline significantly. As for renewable (vegetation, soil) and non-renewable (oil, coal) resources, their overexploitation and unchecked development of the world economy threaten to deplete some of them irretrievably.

In the 1980s, Richard Ullman analyzed the global threat of a shortage of energy resources. He identified two main dangers: “natural” – depletion of energy resources, and “artificial” – actions of governments of individual countries, e.g., boycotts, embargoes, restrictions on the supply of these resources (Ullman, 1983, pp. 140–145).

The growing danger of natural resource degradation and environmental pollution has also attracted the attention of global international organizations. In 1983, UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar established the independent World Commission on Environment and Development, chaired by Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. The Commission aimed to identify current world problems, and its work resulted in the Our Common Future report, published in 1987. The report defined the term “sustainable development” for the first time, recognizing that sustainable development “is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (United Nations, 1987, p. 24).1 The report warns against equating the term “development” with purely economic development and against an equally narrow understanding of the definition of “environment.” Therefore, it was the first time that environment and development problems were treated as a single global issue. The report also demonstrates the strong relationship between the environment and poverty, stating that poverty is both a cause and an effect of global environmental problems. Furthermore, it has been emphasized that sustainable development requires decisive changes in the use of natural resources, investments, further technical development, and political structures (Eissel & Rokicka, 1996, p. 59).

The Our Common Future report recognizes that there is no single blueprint for sustainable development, as it is necessary to consider that socioeconomic systems and ecological conditions vary considerably between countries. Although the Our Common Future report recognizes sustainable development as a global goal, each country has to develop its own policies for action (Baker et al., 1997, p. 4). The report brought about a real revolution in views, contributing to the reduction of ecological destruction and the formation of new concepts of development.

Daly draws attention to the need for sustainable use of natural resources and the environment, highlighting that if there is no change to the current methods in which they are exploited, there will be a collapse of the economy and even an ecological disaster is likely. Therefore, natural resources and the environment should be used consistently and sustainably. Daly thus proposed three key principles for sustainable use of resources and the environment (Daly, 2007, p. 14):

  1. With regard to renewable resources: the sustainable withdrawal of resources cannot exceed the regeneration of resources.

  2. With regard to non-renewable resources: the sustainable withdrawal of non-renewable resources cannot exceed the rate of production of their renewable substitutes – the total amount of natural capital should remain unchanged.

  3. With regard to pollutants: the sustainable rate of pollutant emissions cannot exceed the rate at which the pollutants will be recovered, absorbed or disposed of by the environment. (Tester et al., 2005, p. 262)

The current problems faced in addressing the world’s major global issues were identified on September 25–27, 2015, at the United Nations Summit in New York. At that time, the document entitled “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” was adopted, setting 17 Sustainable Development Goals for the period 2015–2030 (United Nations, 2015b). These goals are discussed in detail in Chapter 1 of this book. However, two of the goals indicated relate directly to energy and the fight against climate change, respectively Goal 7: “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all,” and Goal 13: “Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.” The United Nations’ classification and listing of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which specifically mandate the guarantee of universal access to energy and the mitigation of climate change, represents a pivotal stride towards the enhanced management of these vital global public goods.

To sum up, one of the most important factors prompting the emergence of the concept of sustainable development was the increasing danger of degradation of natural resources and pollution of the environment. In the Our Common Future report, the UN highlighted for the first time that the degradation of natural resources and the environment is a major global issue. It also shows that there is a strong correlation between the environment and poverty, emphasizing that poverty is both a cause and an effect of global environmental issues. Over the years, with the advance of globalization, these problems have become even more relevant. Ensuring stable and universal access to energy while protecting the environment is one of the most important Sustainable Development Goals.

3 Green Energy and Its Impact on Improving Quality of Life

It is worth highlighting that energy demand continues to increase. The US Energy Information Administration and the International Energy Agency predict in annual reports that energy consumption will increase by 71% between 2003 and 2030. Meanwhile, the increased demand for energy is accompanied by a continuous decline (depletion) of fossil resources. Moreover, carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, with an increase of 50% in 2015 versus 1990 (United Nations, 2015b, p. 52). Thus, in order to meet the major challenges of sustainable development in the 21st century, i.e., increasing energy demand, resource scarcity, and climate change, it is necessary to approach environmental and energy protection as part of sustainable development.

The term “green energy” is commonly used to describe electricity generated from renewable sources. In principle, all natural resources are renewable, but at very different times. If the renewal time of the resource is short, it is considered renewable. However, if the renewal occurs over a somewhat longer period of time, but still within our lifetime, the resource is considered potentially renewable. Renewal of some natural resources is only possible as a result of geological processes of such duration that for practical purposes they are called non-renewable resources. Their reserves are exhaustible in terms of human life expectancy (Afgan et al., 2004, p. 5). For this reason, energy raw material resources are commonly divided into non-renewable raw materials (e.g., coal and lignite, oil, natural gas, uranium) and renewable raw materials (e.g., hydropower, biomass solar and geothermal energy, wind energy, etc.).

Non-renewable sources are limited in quantity, and intensive exploitation over the past century has significantly depleted them. Unfortunately, it is not possible to increase the reserves of non-renewable raw materials within a conceivable time frame through recovery or new discoveries. Conversely, renewable sources have the special property that they are not consumed in the process of exploitation, so that future generations will be able to use them as needed.

As it is based on non-renewable resources, conventional energy contributes significantly to environmental degradation – pollution of soil, water, and the atmosphere. Renewable energy is less burdensome for the environment, as much less pollution is involved in its production. Although renewable energy sources do not consume natural resources and are the most climate-friendly source of energy generation, it should be borne in mind that using them also involves some environmental interference. For example, the generation of wind energy causes a lot of noise from generators driven by this energy and a reduction in bird populations as a result of them colliding with wind turbines. Also, offshore turbines can disturb ecosystems through vibration and noise. In turn, dams contribute to the disruption of water relations in the ecosystem (changes in the flow of oxygen and nutrients) and become a physical barrier to migrating fish. These are just a few examples showing that renewable energy sources are not completely neutral to the environment, but it should be borne in mind that there is currently no source of energy generation that has no environmental impact at all. Nevertheless, green energy contributes only marginally to its degradation in contrast to the conventional energy sources described earlier. In addition, renewable energy sources allow for experiments and innovative actions to transform the environment, as yet unexplored due to widespread dependence on fossil fuels.

In sum, energy from renewable sources has many beneficial characteristics:

  1. Low environmental impact
  2. Resource renewability
  3. Saving fossil fuels (eliminates consumption of coal, oil, and natural gas)
  4. A nationally dispersed energy source that does not need to be transported and can be sourced anywhere, thus eliminating the losses incurred in distribution and the construction of costly transmission lines

A factor that determines the need for spreading and using green energy is the fight against climate change, the consequences of which are increasingly perceived by society. Another factor in favor of using green energy is the increasing demand for energy. As conventional resources become scarcer and steadily depleted, only renewable energy sources are able to ensure continued access to energy, both for current and future generations at an affordable price.

It is worth noting that the use of green energy directly contributes to the two Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals – universal energy access (Goal 7) and combating climate change (Goal 13). However, indirectly, using green energy also contributes to almost all of the Sustainable Development Goals, including mainly the first goal, which focuses on poverty eradication. In fact, green energy does not emit pollutants into the atmosphere, and is therefore an effective tool for combating climate change, which is the main cause of environmental disasters. At the same time, disasters such as hurricanes or droughts significantly exacerbate poverty, causing major economic losses. Thus, green transformation plays a huge role in implementing the concept of sustainable development. It even lays the foundation for the sustainable development of the whole world, and thus for the effective management of global public goods.

To conclude, the development of green energy is an essential element for the implementation of the concept of sustainable development, as well as a necessary tool for efficiently managing global public goods in terms of energy and environmental protection. First of all, using renewable energy sources (RES) to generate energy is emission-free and does not exacerbate climate change, which is a fundamental global problem. Another important advantage of renewable resources is regeneration, thus saving fossil fuels. Surely the solution to the global issues of energy access, environmental protection, and climate change is to use a mechanism to implement sustainable development with green energy.

4 Green Transformation Efforts by International Organizations (WB, EBRD, WHO) and, in Particular the EU and the EIB

A major event that has driven international action to tackle climate change is the Paris Agreement, which entered into force on November 4, 2016 (Council Decision (EU), 2016). Its main thrust is to strive to keep the global temperature rise well below 2°C (and to make every effort to keep it at 1.5°C) relative to pre-industrial levels, and to bring about a rapid reduction in emissions. Signature of the agreement by two of the most carbon-emitting countries, China and USA,2 was a great success. The Paris Agreement complements Agenda 2030 and the 13th Sustainable Development Goal on climate change (United Nations, 2015b).

  1. World Bank (WB)

    Using green energy is one of the most important tools for combating climate change. Individual countries also support global international organizations to implement their commitments under the Paris Agreement. One such organization is certainly the World Bank, which launched in April 2021 a new Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP). In the CCAP, the Bank made a commitment to increase climate finance to 35% of total commitments over the next 5 years (World Bank Group, 2021, p. 17).

  2. World Health Organization (WHO)

    The WHO also draws attention to the fact that the Paris Agreement is a fundamental agreement on public health. At the 2018 UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, WHO officials expressed concern that 9 out of 10 people breathe air with high levels of pollution, and around 7 million people die each year from exposure to fine particles in polluted air (United Nations, 2018).

  3. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

    EBRD also plays an important role in managing global environmental and energy public goods. The EBRD was established by the European Council in December 1989 and became operational in March 1991. Its main objective was to facilitate the transition of the Central and Eastern European countries to a market economy. Currently, the EBRD is owned by 71 countries, as well as the EU and EIB (EBRD, 2023). EBRD members work towards sustainable development, including environmental protection. The Bank promotes the slogan “Green economy transition,” implying ecology as the priority of its activities and, in particular, combating climate change. In July 2020, the EBRD presented The Green Economy Transition GET 2021–2025, which aims to finance projects that accelerate the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon economy. As part of GET 2.1, the EBRD made a commitment to “aligning its activities with the principles of international climate agreements, including principally the Paris Agreement” (EBRD, 2020, p. 6). Therefore, the EBRD actively supports countries that seek to fulfill their commitments under the Paris Agreement. As a result of these measures, in 2021, climate change expenditure accounted for 51% (€5.4 billion) of the Bank’s total investments (€10.4 billion) (Bennett, 2022). All financial flows by the EBRD are consistent with Article 2.1 of the Paris Treaty, which obliges signatories to make “finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.” In June 2021, the EBRD published a methodology for public consultation to define how the EBRD determines whether projects to be financed by the Bank are consistent with the Paris Agreement (EBRD, 2021).

  4. European Union (EU) and European Investment Bank (EIB)

    The institution that has been particularly active in promoting the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement is the EU. In December 2019, the European Green Deal was established, a new strategy of action under which the EU aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. In order to implement the European Green Deal, the European Commission announced a new “Fit for 55” package on July 14, 2021 (European Commission, 2021). The package aims to decarbonize the European economy by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 emission levels. The package contains 13 legislative proposals to achieve this goal, including a proposal to amend the renewable energy directive. It proposed to raise the current EU target of 32% RES in gross final energy consumption to at least 40% by 2030. The Commission also proposed to amend the Energy Efficiency Directive to raise the current EU target to improve energy efficiency from 32.5% to 36% of final energy consumption by 2030. The package also includes a proposal to revise the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), which has been in place since 2005 and aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the EU. Under this mechanism, the EU sets an overall cap on emissions allowances, and companies buy or receive these allowances. This cap is gradually being lowered so that emissions also decrease progressively. As per the amendment to the act within the package, each year, the permissible emission caps are to be reduced even more rapidly, so that the price of emission allowances will rise at the same time. Additionally, free emission allowances for aviation are to be gradually phased out and maritime transport emissions are to be included in the scheme. The new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) included in the package is particularly noteworthy. The CBAM is supposed to operate in parallel with the ETS and counteract “carbon leakage.” Therefore, the project aims to avoid a situation where the EU’s efforts to reduce emissions are undermined by increased emissions outside its borders, either through relocation of production to countries outside the EU (where climate change policies are less demanding than the EU’s) or through increased imports of carbon-intensive products. The package also includes changes to the carbon dioxide emission standards for passenger cars and commercial vehicles. From 2035, no cars or commercial vehicles with combustion engines will be allowed on the EU market. Furthermore, an amendment to the legislation has been included in the package to accelerate the development of infrastructure for charging or refueling vehicles using alternative fuels. The package also involves air transport (ReFuelEU Aviation project) and maritime transport (FueEU Maritime) in meeting the EU’s climate targets, intending to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the use of renewable and low-carbon fuels in air and maritime transport (last updated March 25, 2022).

The EU attends the UN Climate Conferences every year, where participants reflect on how to accelerate global climate action. During the last COP 27 Conference in November 2022 in Sharm el Sheikh, the EU postulated to continue to increase the scale of international financing of actions related to climate change (European Council, 2022).

The financial institution actively involved in implementing climate neutrality in the EU is the European Investment Bank. In November 2019, the EIB Board of Directors decided to increase the EIB Group’s commitment to the climate and environment. It was decided to transform the EIB from “the EU bank supporting the climate” into “the EU climate bank.” Therefore, the Bank has adopted a new climate strategy, as well as a new energy lending policy. The EIB is committed to aligning all its financing activities with the goals of the Paris Agreement. To do this, the Bank has declared that by 2025 it will increase the share of investment to at least 50% of total funding under its “climate action and environmental sustainability” priority, a level of more than €30 billion per year. In addition, the EIB stopped financing conventional fossil fuel projects from the end of 2021 (European Parliament, 2021).

As the EU climate bank, the EIB focuses mainly on financing projects concerning (EIB, 2020, p. 15):

  1. Energy efficiency, including building and housing refurbishment, better road lighting and green transport
  2. Emission-free energy supply to contribute to the EU’s goal of increasing energy from renewable sources
  3. Electricity networks connecting new, low-carbon energy sources
  4. Innovation in energy generation, storage and use

Reducing emissions, especially in the industrial sector, is a very difficult task. For this reason, the Bank is implementing projects to help businesses make the transition to a low-carbon model. Between 2016 and 2020, the EIB financed energy infrastructure to the tune of around €60 billion. The Bank financed energy-related projects worth €11.6 billion, including €5.8 billion for energy efficiency, €4 billion for renewable energy sources, €963 million for electricity, €455 million for gas, and €351 million for heat (EIB, 2021b, p. 3).

The establishment of the €100 million Breakthrough Energy Ventures Europe (BEV-E) investment fund, in collaboration with the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Commission (EC), and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, represents a salient development deserving noteworthy attention. The fund is the first large-scale clean energy investment and focuses on significant emission reductions. The fund aims to support European companies that develop cutting-edge technologies that contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions (EIB, 2019).

Currently, companies are increasingly willing to invest in this type of project as they are increasingly aware that climate change seriously impacts their business. According to a qualitative survey conducted by the EIB in 2021, as many as 58% of companies with operations in the EU are aware that climate change is negatively affecting their businesses. Spain (78%), Romania (72%), Portugal (72%), and Malta (44%) had the highest number of companies aware of the implications of climate change for their business (EIB, 2021a, p. 28).

To conclude, the EU and the EIB are making every effort to achieve climate neutrality in the EU economy by 2050 through the deployment of green energy. The increasingly stringent EU climate change standards and EIB financing for green energy projects are very concrete steps towards climate neutrality. However, it should be emphasized that in order to ensure universal access to energy as well, and effectively mitigate climate change, energy supplies must also be adequately diversified. A stable supply of energy is essential to the smooth operation of any economy. Unfortunately, the European Union is highly dependent on energy imports from external suppliers and is therefore vulnerable to sudden increases in energy prices and energy crises. Even at the end of 2021, there was an increase in energy prices in Europe, which was caused by a sharp increase in the price of natural gas on world exchanges. This increase was the result of increased demand for gas resulting, among other things, from the EU’s climate policy and departure from fossil fuel – based power generation, as well as a reduction in the gas supply from major suppliers, mainly Russia. In December 2021, gas prices on world markets increased by 170% compared to December 2020 (last updated March 31, 2022). In contrast, the Russo – Ukrainian War (February 24, 2022) resulted in an even greater increase in the price of natural gas – by 38.6% at its peak in March 2022 compared to January of that year (Horton et al., 2022). Certainly the conflict with Russia has exposed the flaws in the EU’s energy policy of overdependence on Russian energy imports, but it has also motivated the EU to accelerate its RES-based energy transition.

In March 2022, the EC communicated a plan to make Europe independent of Russian fossil fuels before 2030 (European Commission, 2022). The EC stressed that as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, urgent action must be taken to bring about an even faster energy transition in the EU. The EC highlighted that the EU is heavily dependent on conventional fuel imports from Russia. As much as 45.3% of gas imports in 2021 came from Russia. The rest of the gas suppliers had a much smaller share of EU imports: Norway (23.6%), Algeria (12.6%), the USA (6.6%), Qatar (4.9%), and others (7.1%). Also, in 2021, more than 27% of oil and 46% of coal were imported from Russia. In order to become independent from Russian gas by 2030, the EC has proposed the REPowerEU plan, which includes diversification of gas supplies through increased imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and pipeline imports from non-Russian suppliers. In addition, the plan is to increase the production and import of biomethane and hydrogen and to reduce the use of fossil fuels more quickly. Attention was also drawn to the need to improve energy efficiency, increase the share of RES in final energy consumption, and address infrastructure constraints. The full implementation of the proposals under the “Fit for 55” package described earlier is intended to achieve these objectives. The EC estimates that these measures could reduce EU demand for Russian gas by two-thirds by the end of the year. The communication stresses that the significant increase in energy prices is hitting people in the poorest households (who spend a significant proportion of their income on energy bills) particularly hard, as well as those in fuel poverty. In turn, this contributes to exacerbating social disparities and inequalities, while constituting a huge barrier to achieving the UN’s first Sustainable Development Goal – eradicating global poverty.

To summarize, today, international organizations such as the UN, WB, EU, EBRD, and EIB are taking many steps to manage the global public goods of environment and energy effectively. The EU is the undisputed leader in green transformation measures and the pursuit of climate neutrality. However, effective energy and climate management, in line with the sustainable development model, should incorporate environment protection, and also secure and stable energy supply at affordable prices. Unfortunately, there has not been adequate diversification of imported fuel supplies in the EU for many years, as most energy supplies depend on a single supplier – Russia. The Russo – Ukrainian War has highlighted the serious consequences for the EU of becoming heavily dependent on a single energy supplier. These consequences are a reduction in the supply of energy and a large increase in its price on the EU market, with a consequent rise in inflation and a significant fall in the population’s real incomes. In the wake of these events, the EU is now taking a number of steps to reduce its dependence on energy imports from Russia. Under these circumstances, the green transition is an even more necessary and extremely important development, as the increase in energy generated from RES increases the diversification of supply and thus improves energy security. In addition, climate change and the degradation of natural resources are now a real global concern for society. Therefore, every effort should be made to achieve climate neutrality, while bearing in mind that stable and affordable access to energy is also an important element affecting people’s quality of life.

5 Conclusions

Due to the world’s growing population and economic development, the global demand for increasingly scarce energy resources continues to rise, and the global economy is under threat of increasing energy deficits and, consequently, significant environmental degradation and climate change. The solution to providing society with stable and affordable access to energy and combating climate change is green energy. Therefore, international organizations should implement green energy to manage global public goods such as the environment and energy effectively.

The present chapter has effectively accomplished its objective by highlighting the salience of global public goods, specifically those pertaining to environmental preservation and energy conservation. Moreover, the current discourse has substantiated that the measures undertaken by international organizations in support of the green transition align with the model of sustainable development.

The development of green energy contributes to the efficient management of global public goods, i.e., environmental protection and energy. Green energy is a direct opportunity to meet at least two of the current Sustainable Development Goals set out in the 2030 Agenda, i.e., ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all, and taking urgent action to combat climate change and its effects. Moreover, using green energy indirectly contributes to almost all of the Sustainable Development Goals and is particularly strongly linked to the goal of poverty eradication. As a result of climate change, numerous disasters have occurred, including hurricanes and droughts, which have caused great damage and have consequently contributed to global poverty. To achieve sustainable development, it is imperative to implement and make extensive use of clean, modern technologies and renewable energy sources.

Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, international organizations, i.e., the EU, WB, EBRD, and EIB, have made every effort to manage the global public goods – environment and energy – effectively. Concrete legislative measures and financial solutions supporting projects related to the development of green energy are a manifestation of these efforts. Undoubtedly, this provision of support is of utmost significance and necessity, as it constitutes a vital component of the sustainable development model, thereby enhancing the standard of living for all individuals.

In summary, global international organizations are exerting commendable efforts towards the effective management of global public goods pertaining to the environment and energy. Certainly, a necessary tool for the efficient management of these goods is the systematic implementation of green energy under the sustainable development mechanism. Using green energy reduces climate change, saves fossil fuels, and improves energy security by increasing energy generation sources. Thus, providing widespread access to green energy is seamlessly aligned with the model of sustainable development, while promoting environmental protection and improving people’s quality of life.

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1

The concept of sustainable development is thoroughly discussed in Chapter 1 of this book.

2

The United States formally withdrew from the Paris Agreement on November 4, 2020, due to a decision of President Donald Trump, but rejoined on February 19, 2021, due to a decision made by the new president, Joe Biden.

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