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.

In this book, Katrin Buchmann offers a fascinating and insightful account of the efforts of several European embassies to create alliances in the United States and in China to support the UN climate negotiations leading up to COP15.

Climate change has taken centre stage in Eurpean and international politics. The fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released in 2007, confirmedthat climate change is on eof the most serious threats to international security and the well-being of human kind. At the European level, climate change has become a major agenda item regularly discussed by the European Council. Internationally, the issue has become one of "high politics". Since 2005, it has been a top priority of the G-8 Summits, and both the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly have placed it high on their agendas. World leaders are rallying to achieve a new global deal to combat global warming under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Overall, there is hardly any high-level political encounter in which the issue is not discussed. The European Union as established itself as the most ptrominent international leader on the issue. It has been one of the most fervent supporters of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol, striving to sustain its leadership in the efforts to reach a new global agreement post-2012. The EU has also increasingly underpinned its international leadership position with domestic action. Most prominently, it introduced a greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme in 2005. The Period 2007-2008 saw a major overhaul and leap forward in the development of a renewed EU framework of policy and legislation to address climate change. Most importantly, the new EU climate policies include a set of legislative acts adopted in early 2009 and known as the "climate and energy package" that is designed to acheve the EU's target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% and increasing the share of renewable energies to 20% by 2020. This volume provides a timely overview and assessment of the development of the new EU climate policies with a focus on the new climate and energy package. Are EU climate policies sufficient to meet the environmental, economic and political challenge posed by global climate change? How do international and domestic climate poliies of the EU intereact and are they mutually supportive? What are the prospects for the EU keeping its international leadership in the face of a more engaged US and increasingly assertive emerging economies? In addressing these questions, the volume aims to enhance understanding and contribute to further discussions on the current and potential reole of the EU in the fight against climate change.

Zusammenfassung: In 2021 the international climate policy agenda will need to catch up on much that was not accomplished in 2020. Because of the pandemic, deadlines were postponed and processes slowed down. What is the position of major climate policy powers in early 2021, and what momentum can we expect for international negotiations? The most important impetus this year will come from the EU, the US and China. However, since these three powers are also competitors, the EU and its member states will have to strengthen multilateral cooperation overall so as to push for reaching the Paris Agreement targets, formulate clear expectations, and ensure that all actors remain on equal terms. For Germany and the EU it will therefore be crucial to continue to focus decisively on joint action with partner countries within networks, and to concentrate on core issues with the US. Obvious areas for cooperation with Washington are a joint diplomatic approach for the next international climate conference (COP26), and reconciling climate and trade policy

The European Union (EU) and the United States (U.S.) were key actors in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations that culminated in the adoption of a global climate agreement in Paris on December 12, 2015. So far, they have remained central to ensuring the continuation of the negotiations on implementing the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Germany, France, and the United Kingdom (UK) have been among the most active EU member states on climate diplomacy, contributing to the EU’s international impact. While both were key to the 2015 climate negotiations, the EU and the U.S. are different kinds of leaders and distinct actors in international climate diplomacy. Overall, their strengths and activities complemented each other during the Obama era, contributing to the success of global climate govenance. Time will show to what extent the Trump administration will disrupt this implicit transatlantic division of labor.

Climate diplomacy does not have a universal definition. Nevertheless, it generally refers to the use of diplomatic tools to support the achievement of international climate goals and mitigate the negative impacts of climate change on peace, stability and prosperity. Climate diplomacy entails prioritizing climate action in relations with partners worldwide, shaping foreign policy agendas and building partnerships that tackle simultaneously climate and other foreign policy objectives such as peace building or strengthening multilateralism. At the EU level, the EU Council defines climate diplomacy as "EUʼs work in both multilateral fora and at a bilateral level on promoting ambitious global climate goals and actions in pursuit of a planetary transition towards climate neutrality". The 2018 EU Parliament resolution on climate diplomacy1 defines it as "a form of targeted foreign policy to promote climate action through reaching out to other actors, cooperating on specific climate-related issues, building strategic partnerships and strengthening relations between state and non-state actors, including major contributors to global pollution, thereby contributing to mitigating the effects of climate change, as well as to enhancing climate action and strengthening Union's diplomatic relationships". Bilateral and multilateral diplomatic relations on climate issues are largely characterized by traditional state-to-state diplomacy. Nevertheless, several studies and experts highlight those contemporary global challenges are transforming traditional diplomacy and climate change is playing a major role in this process. Over the years, while national governments repeatedly failed to make substantial commitments to address climate change, new diplomatic players started to emerge bringing forward ambitious commitments. In particular, cities and - to a lesser extent - other subnational actors are gaining increasingly significant importance in climate diplomacy.