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Overcoming Regulatory Failure in the Design and Implementation of Gas Flaring Policies: The Potential and Promise of an Energy Justice Approach

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  • Aare Afe Babalola

    (College of Law, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti 360001, Nigeria)

  • Damilola S. Olawuyi

    (College of Law, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha P.O. Box 5825, Qatar
    Institute for Oil, Gas, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development (OGEES Institute), Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti 360001, Nigeria)

Abstract

Gas flaring is a major source of air pollution and a chief contributor to climate change. Addressing the adverse social, environmental, and economic impacts of gas flaring has therefore been identified as a fundamental objective of energy policy in oil- and gas-producing countries across the world. Despite this recognition however, gas flaring remains a significant threat to energy justice worldwide, especially in resource-rich Middle Eastern and African (MEA) countries. In Nigeria, for example, as far back as 1979, the primary legislation fixed 1 January 1984 as the deadline for all energy operators to stop gas flaring. More than three decades later, Nigeria remains one of the highest gas flaring countries on earth, with significant adverse social, environmental, and human rights impacts on local communities. While a number of existing studies have documented the perennial failure of gas flaring regulation and policies in Nigeria and other MEA countries, a detailed examination of the energy justice gaps that limit the design and implementation of gas flaring reduction policies has remained absent. This article fills a gap in this regard. Drawing lessons from Nigeria, this article analyzes the energy justice dimensions of regulatory failure in the design and implementation of gas flaring policies. Various legal and institutional drivers of regulatory failures in gas flaring reduction policies are examined in order to identify the ways in which an energy justice governance framework can help close these gaps. The study suggests that conceptualizing and elaborating the energy justice dimensions of gas flaring in energy policy design, enacting stringent and coherent gas flaring legislation, promoting the transparent reporting and disclosure of statistical data on gas flaring reduction programs, and reforming regulatory institutions to ensure coherent implementation of gas flaring policies are significant steps towards overcoming regulatory failure in the design and implementation of energy policies on gas flaring reduction.

Suggested Citation

  • Aare Afe Babalola & Damilola S. Olawuyi, 2022. "Overcoming Regulatory Failure in the Design and Implementation of Gas Flaring Policies: The Potential and Promise of an Energy Justice Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-17, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:11:p:6800-:d:830194
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Clive George, 2014. "Developments in Regional Trade Agreements and the Environment: 2013 Update," OECD Trade and Environment Working Papers 2014/1, OECD Publishing.
    2. Pim Derwort & Nicolas Jager & Jens Newig, 2019. "Towards productive functions? A systematic review of institutional failure, its causes and consequences," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 52(2), pages 281-298, June.
    3. Clive George, 2014. "Environment and Regional Trade Agreements: Emerging Trends and Policy Drivers," OECD Trade and Environment Working Papers 2014/2, OECD Publishing.
    4. Sokołowski, Maciej M. & Heffron, Raphael J., 2022. "Defining and conceptualising energy policy failure: The when, where, why, and how," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    5. Afe Babalola & Damilola S. Olawuyi, 2021. "Advancing Environmental Education for Sustainable Development in Higher Education in Nigeria: Current Challenges and Future Directions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-14, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hassan, Qaraman Mohammed & Khudir, Ibrahim Mustafa & Olawuyi, San, Damilola S., 2023. "Regulating corporate social responsibility in energy and extractive industries: The case of international oil companies in a developing country," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    2. Olusola Joshua Olujobi & Elizabeta Smaranda Olarinde & Tunde Ebenezer Yebisi & Uchechukwu Emena Okorie, 2022. "COVID-19 Pandemic: The Impacts of Crude Oil Price Shock on Nigeria’s Economy, Legal and Policy Options," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-20, September.

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