The energy sector faces many challenges today, in particular from the current health (COVID-19) and resulting financial crises. However, a significant number of challenges existed prior to the outbreak of COVID-19. The approach here is to align academic and practitioner legal research and illuminate for the business world from a legal perspective what the key commercial risks are for the energy sector in the years ahead. A further aim of this article is to demonstrate to interdisciplinary energy researchers how these commercial risks can influence energy activity and decision-making across the world at local, national and international levels. Often those in science or social science do not realise the vital role law plays in reducing or increasing the risk profile of energy activity. And that, in essence, is what this article aims to address: the knowledge gap around law and risk and how interdisciplinary scholars should understand the issue of commercial risk in the energy sector. This article identifies how commercial risk for the energy sector will change due to what can be classed as ‘justice risks’. Resolving these justice risks will be necessary over the lifetime of a project from planning through construction, operation and decommissioning phases. For all stakeholders in the energy sector it is vital that there is a recovery and that new energy projects are built and that they contribute to a country’s 2030 energy and climate goals. As the world faces the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19, financial and energy-climate crises, ensuring engagement with justice risks can provide a pathway forward to ensure investors commit to investment. Energy, a key sector in the global economy, will be affected but at the same time can enable economic recovery. It can be stated, therefore, that energy has a dual nature – rather like the health sector – being part of the problem but also the solution to the current financial crises (ie the panacea).

如今，能源部门面临着许多挑战，尤其是当前的健康状况 (COVID-19) 和由此产生的金融危机。但是，在 COVID-19 爆发之前存在大量挑战。这里的方法是将学术界和从业者的法律研究结合起来，并从法律角度为商业界阐明未来几年能源行业的主要商业风险是什么。本文的另一个目的是向跨学科能源研究人员展示这些商业风险如何在地方、国家和国际层面影响世界各地的能源活动和决策。通常，科学或社会科学领域的人没有意识到法律在减少或增加能源活动风险方面的重要作用。本质上，这就是本文旨在解决的问题：围绕法律和风险的知识差距以及跨学科学者应如何理解能源部门的商业风险问题。本文确定了能源部门的商业风险将如何因可归类为“正义风险”而发生变化。在项目的整个生命周期中，从规划到建设、运营和退役阶段，都需要解决这些司法风险。对于能源部门的所有利益相关者来说，复苏和新能源项目的建设以及它们对一个国家 2030 年能源和气候目标的贡献至关重要。随着世界面临 COVID-19、金融和能源气候危机的持续挑战，确保参与司法风险可以为确保投资者承诺投资提供一条前进的道路。能源是全球经济的关键部门，会受到影响，但同时可以促进经济复苏。因此，可以说能源具有双重性质——就像卫生部门一样——既是问题的一部分，也是当前金融危机的解决方案（即灵丹妙药）。