Kuala Lampur, April 9 -- Energy, alongside water and air, is an essential necessity to humans.

Yet, the field of energy jurisprudence has only recently gained prominence among practitioners and academicians.

In Malaysia, for instance, it was not until this year that the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act (EECA) was enacted. This raises a critical question: how was the energy sector governed before, and why has such an essential area of law remained relatively underdeveloped?

Historically, energy governance was primarily managed through domestic regulations under national laws.

As industrialisation drove global development, the scope of governance expanded to include market liberalisation, sustainability, and climate change.

These...