Legal Issues of Economic Integration
Volume 52, Issue 1 (2025) pp. 89 – 112

httpss://doi.org/10.54648/leie2025005

Abstract

Globally, the world is pushing for an energy transition to promote sustainability in order to address the challenges of energy security and climate change. This article examines the approach of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to sustainable energy with a view to analysing the strategies for promoting sustainable energy within the ECOWAS Treaty and its relevant instruments. The upscaling of sustainable energy within the ECOWAS region has been slow, as there are no binding commitments on Member States, weak institutional mechanisms, a paucity of funds, disparate levels of energy productivity, and varied levels of economic development ofMember States, among other reasons. It emphasizes that it is important for West Africa to take advantage of regional integration to put in place comprehensive legal instruments on sustainable energy measures. The European Union (EU), on the other hand, keeping with the objective of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), has created an enabling environment through its binding instruments, strengthening of institutional capacity, funding, and expressions of support for the promotion of sustainable energy. The article proposes ways in which the ECOWAS could be strengthened to incorporate measures drawing inspiration from the EU experience while making necessary adjustments to account for its peculiar circumstances.

Extract

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