Abstract:

The current global energy governance system lacks authority, unity, and coordination and the governance structure has been in a fragmented state. The International Energy Agency (IEA) and Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are the world’s most influential governance organizations, representing the energy consumer and energy exporting countries respectively. The International Energy Forum (IEF) is a communication platform for energy production and consumption countries, but it is only a mechanism for dialogue and lacks organizational framework and control mechanism. The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) was confined to Europe and lacks participation of big oil production and consumption countries; and the G7 and the G20 only have the function of high-level coordination, lack of practical operability, and they are a global governance system but not specific energy governance organizations. How can China play a role and participate in the current global energy governance framework? In this article, we put forward a general framework for China’s participation in global energy governance. China should use the exiting international Energy Charter Treaty as the basis of future energy governance, rely on the Belt and Road initiative, and take the energy Internet as the breakthrough point. The roadmap would be participation-integration-reforming-reshaping. China as a big energy consuming state should play a key role to improve the global energy governance system, and ultimately achieve the goal of a fair and more reasonable global energy governance system.

Key words: energy, global governance, framework, path selection, International Energy Charter Treat, Belt and Road initiative