The well-being of human populations and their sustainable development are strongly predicated on energy and food security. This is even more true of Africa due to often suboptimal food production, undernourishment, and extreme poverty. This article researches the relationship between energy and food security using Cobb–Douglas production functions based on the World Development Indicators data for 28 African countries. The methodological approach includes cross-sectional dependence and unit root tests, instrumental variables two-stage least-squares and generalized method of moments, and panel Driscoll–Kraay standard errors. Results suggest that the promotion of energy security promotes food security. This is possible because food production and distribution are energy-intensive. Therefore, energy is fundamental to achieving food security and zero hunger. The availability, affordability, accessibility, and acceptability of energy can thus help to fix the growing agricultural production shortage in Africa. An important policy focus should be on achieving energy security.

Proliferation of renewable energy is high on the agenda of the European Union. In it, local government plays an important role. Besides traditional regulatory approaches such as legislation, nudging could have a positive effect on achieving the desired policy goals. This article analyses the legal framework within which the local-level practice of nudging is embedded in the Republic of Slovenia. Since EU-level legislation and ECHR aspects are analysed as well, the application of findings is broader than merely the national legal system. Nudging could be performed either by using the existing infrastructure or through the creation of local energy organisations. Three main groups of legal limitations are identified, namely state-level limitations, GDPR-related concerns and constitutional or human rights considerations. Defaults and individualised informing are emphasized as two of the most promising nudge-types in the field of renewable energy.

Since corporations owned by municipalities provide important services to local populations, unlawful conduct on their part is especially undesirable. This paper researches the elements that need to be present in a legal framework, so that the deterrent effect regarding undesirable conduct of municipal corporations will be optimised. An approach based on rational choice considerations is proposed, which takes into account the necessity of an adequate severity of sanctions, a high likelihood of liability for offenders and the need to deprive them of unlawful gains. Interrelation and cumulative effects of norms pertaining to criminal, civil and disciplinary liability are emphasized. The proposed model has the potential to be used by policy-makers to gain additional insight into merits or demerits of different potential legal regimes aimed at deterrence of unlawful behaviour in municipal corporations and their employees.

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