Burundi and the Burden of Climate Reforms: A 'Carrot and Stick' Legal Approach to Sustainable Climate Change Regulation in Burundi

Burundi is on the verge of a climate and environmental catastrophe due to an interlinked combination of extreme poverty, explosive population growth, over-reliance on biomass energy sources and rapidly declining forest cover in the largely agrarian country. 100 per cent of its internally displaced population are climate change-related displacements, yet the government struggles with balancing strict climate regulations alongside promoting voluntary climate change behavioural changes. This paper critically analyses the reformation of Burundi’s climate change legal framework utilising a ‘Carrot and Stick’ legal approach to engender a transition to cleaner energy sources and promote climate mitigation and adaptation. The paper examines the key drivers of a sustainable climate change legal framework, the mechanisms of adopting a ‘carrot-and-stick’ approach to climate change regulation and the delicate structuring of Burundi’s regulatory framework to effectively punish and persuade households to adopt climate change goals in their energy and agricultural activities.