Different paths towards sustainable biofuels? A comparative study of the International, EU, and Chinese regulation of the sustainability of biofuels

Concerns over sustainability of biofuels have already led to regulatory measures in various legal systems, but the cross-cutting and multi-scale nature of the sustainability issue increases the complexity of regulation. In this context, this dissertation is dedicated to a comparative analysis on the state-of-the-affairs of the regulatory approaches to sustainability of biofuels in the international, EU, and Chinese legal frameworks, examining whether they may inclusively address sustainability concerns in environmental and socio-economic dimensions. This dissertation argues that inclusive regulation is needed to prevent unsustainable biofuels from being demanded and produced. It is recommended that, instead of a sole dependence on either domestic or international law, there is a need to foster convergent inclusive understanding and regulation of the sustainability of biofuels by combining the effects of harmonisation, integration, transplantation, and convergence at each regulatory level, taking consideration of the different scales of sustainability impacts and their likehood of being influenced by environmental and socio-economic diversity.