The European Union As A Leader In International Climate Change Politics

Climate change poses one of the biggest challenges facing humankind. The European Union (EU) has developed into a leader in international climate change politics although it was originally set up as a ‘leaderless Europe’ in which decision-making powers are spread amongst EU institutional, member state and societal actors. The central aim of this book, which is written by leading experts in the field, is to explain what kind of leadership has been offered by EU institutional, member state and societal actors. Although leadership is the overarching theme of the book, all chapters also address ecological modernisation, policy instruments, and multi-level governance as additional main themes. The book chapters focus on the Commission, European Parliament, European Council and Council of Ministers as well as member states (Britain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain) and societal actors (businesses and environmental NGOs). Additional chapters analyse the EU as a global actor and the climate change policies of America and China and how they have responded to the EU’s ambitions. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of environmental politics, EU politics, comparative politics and international relations as well as to practitioners who deal with EU and/or climate change issues.

In recent years climate change has emerged as an issue of central political importance while the EU has become a major player in international climate change politics. How can a ‘leaderless Europe’ offer leadership in international climate change politics - even in the wake of the UK’s Brexit decision? This book, which has been written by leading experts, offers a critical analysis of the EU leadership role in international climate change politics. It focuses on the main EU institutions, core EU member states and central societal actors (businesses and environmental NGOs). It also contains an external perspective of the EU’s climate change leadership role with chapters on China, India and the USA as well as Norway. Four core themes addressed in the book are: leadership, multilevel and polycentric governance, policy instruments, and the green and low carbon economy. Fundamentally, it asks why we have EU institutional actors, why certain member states and particular societal actors tried to take on a leadership role in climate change politics and how, if at all, have they managed to achieve this? This text will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners in EU studies and politics, international relations, comparative politics and environmental politics.

Essay from the year 2011 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: 1.3, University of Bath, language: English, abstract: Since climate change and related facets of environmental protection became increasingly global(ised) issues in the early 1970s, the international community attempts to address these questions collectively as well as substantially. Observers and commentators of international environmental negotiations thereby repeatedly hinted at the necessity of a strong leader in global environmental governance as a precondition to urge agreements on common approaches to climate change. Otherwise, the successful and sustainable mitigation of global warming and ecocides on a large scale might fail. The question is still highly controversial, why of all actors on the global scale the European Union (EU), which accounts for approximately 24% of hazardous greenhouse gases, shall be a leader in environmental politics and climate protection? The main argument developed in this paper apprehends the European Union as a leader prima facie in international environmental politics. Whether the European Union fills a pivotal leading role according to, for instance, climate protection and sustainable development is a doubled feature. As will be argued below, the EU has undertaken massive efforts and strategic action to promote the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) and mobilised other members of the international climate regime to follow the European ‘leadership by example’ (Schunz 2011, pp.6-10). This dimension is clearly outward-looking and aims for behavioural change of other affected actors. Leading by example also calls for a certain degree of credibility to offer incentives to other players to pursue environmental goals. In respect of GHGE reduction, the European Union faces delays in implementing targets insistently and thus loses ground in international environmental governance to developing countries it is supposed to guide.

The European Union has long played a leadership role in the global response to climate change, including the development and dissemination of climate-friendly technologies such as renewable energy. EU diplomacy has been a vital contributor to the development of international cooperation on climate change through the agreement of the United Nations Climate Convention, its Kyoto Protocol and, most recently, the Paris Agreement. In addition, the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States means that the EU contribution to climate diplomacy will become more important still, both in filling the leadership gap (together with other major economies) and in responding to any sabotage by the Trump administration. This book will extend knowledge of the EU as a key actor in climate diplomacy by bringing together leading practitioners and researchers in this field to take stock of the EU’s current role and emerging issues. Contributions will be grouped into three strands: 1) the interplay between EU climate diplomacy and internal EU politics; 2) how the EU’s legal order is a factor that determines, enables and constrains its climate diplomacy; and 3) the EU’s contribution to diplomacy concerning climate technology both under the Climate Convention and more broadly. Collectively, these contributions will chart the EU’s role at a critical time of transition and uncertainty in the international response to climate change. EU Climate Diplomacy: Politics, Law and Negotiations will be of great relevance to students, scholars and policymakers with an interest in international climate politics and policy, transnational environmental law and politics and EU studies more generally.

The issue of climate change is now widely recognised as one of the major challenges for mankind in the 21st century, not only because it may ultimately affect many areas of our environment, nature and human activity but also because its mitigation may have far reaching consequences for almost all sectors of the economy where energy conversion takes place. Although climate change is firmly positioned on the political agenda and some initial targets have been agreed within a global framework, we are still far away from a mature political and practical policy which may deliver timely and appropriate results .to tum the tide. This is partly due to the complex nature of a possible global climate change regime, the still early stage of the development of effective and efficient instruments and the wide variety of possible ramifications for individual countries and economic sectors. But it is also due to the complexity of the negotiation process, and the lack of effective international or even global governance and leadership to tackle a multi-dimensional problem of this size and nature. This book is the first broad attempt to address the issue of leadership by one of the major parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in the ongoing international debate and negotiations towards such a policy which inevitably has to be constructed on a global scale.

This book is likely to become the definitive study on European global climate change politics. Its focus on the formulation, ratification, and implementation of the Kyoto Protocol within Europe make it essential reading for all who wish to understand how domestic foreign policy influenced the European Union s decision to ratify the Kyoto Protocol despite the United States decision to abandon the agreement. The book provides important historical background, case studies of the most influential European countries to shape the Kyoto Protocol, and an assessment of what enlargement means for the implementation of the agreement. It also examines how Europe s policies have shaped and been shaped by participation in the Kyoto negotiation and implementation processes. It will be an important item for the libraries of any institution or scholar with an interest in the role of Europe in addressing climate change. Miranda Schreurs, University of Maryland, US The core objective of this book is to better understand the role of foreign policy the crossovers and interactions between domestic and international politics and policies in efforts to preserve the environment and natural resources. Underlying this objective is the belief that it is not enough to analyze domestic or international political actors, institutions and processes by themselves. We need to understand the interactions among them, something that explicit thought about foreign policy can help us do. The eclectic group of contributors explore European and EU responses to global climate change, and provide insights into issues on environmental protection, sustainable development, international affairs and foreign policy.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License. It is free to read, download and share on Elgaronline.com. Through detailed and wide-ranging analysis, the Handbook on European Union Climate Change Policy and Politics provides a critical assessment of current and emerging challenges facing the EU in committing to and delivering increasingly ambitious climate policy objectives. Highlighting the importance of topics such as finance and investment, litigation, ‘hard to abate’ sectors and negative emissions, it offers an up-to-date exploration of the complexities of climate politics and policy making.

The EU has been portrayed as a leader in international climate change negotiations. Its role in the development of the climate change regime, as well as the adoption of novel policy instruments such as the EU Emissions Trading Scheme in 2005, are frequently put forward as indicative of a determination to push the international climate agenda forward. However, there are numerous instances where the EU has failed to achieve its climate change objectives (e.g. the 2009 Copenhagen Conference of the Parties). It is therefore important to examine the reasons behind these failures. This book explores in detail the involvement of the EU in international climate talks from the late 1980s to the present, focusing in particular on the negotiations leading up to Copenhagen. This conference witnessed the demise of the top-down approach in climate change policy and dealt a serious blow to the EU’s leadership ambitions. This book explores the extent to which negotiation theory could help with better comprehending the obstacles that prevented the EU from getting more out of the climate negotiation process. It is argued that looking at the role played by problematic strategic planning could prove highly instructive in light of the Paris Agreement. This broad historical perspective of the EU’s negotiations in international climate policy is an important resource to scholars of environmental and European politics, policy, law and governance.