Energy Politics and Law

As a pillar of modern society, energy is often underestimated in its political, economic, and legal influence on our daily lives. Whether we like it or not, the supply, distribution, and consumption of energy has fundamentally moulded the world around us into the one we live in now.

MSc Energy Politics and Law provides you with the opportunity to study energy, as one of the most important yet under-analysed topics in international relations, from a multi-disciplinary perspective.

When ‘energy’ is mentioned, there is perhaps a natural tendency to immediately think of oil or maybe electricity. However, the study of energy is about so much more. As we witness our planet and society confront the swift and relentless consequences of climate change, we are also undergoing the largest energy transition that humankind has ever seen.

MSc Energy Politics & Law is a comprehensive programme that provides you with the building blocks of energy’s role within politics, economics, and law to equip you for careers in any organisation or sector engaging with energy as a topic of policy and praxis.

This programme provides the opportunity and ability to analyse energy as a political instrument, a modern commodity, and a social necessity. Over the course of the MSc, you will have the chance to examine energy within multiple disciplines, looking at issues such as:

The role of energy within climate and environmental politics and policy

The securitisation of energy and its role in conflict and violence

The political and social consequences of fossil fuel and green energy development

Energy regulations, and gaps in regulation, at the domestic and international levels

The economics of energy supply, distribution, and consumption

The legal, economic, and political opportunities and challenges facing our global transition to renewable energies

In Aberdeen, a city once known as Europe’s oil capital, you also have the chance to witness how an oil-based economy is navigating the transition to a renewable one.

Ultimately, this MSc can help you develop a deeper understanding of international politics, law, and economics, from a unique perspective that questions the role of energy across disciplines and provides an insight that is incredibly valuable to a range of potential employers in an energy-dependent world.