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.

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.

Cover -- Half Title -- Series Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication Page -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: EU and China: An alliance for the Anthropocene -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Chapter 1 The US: Still reluctant and unreliable -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Chapter 2 The European Union: A hopeful paradigm -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Chapter 3 China: Lessons from an unsustainable growth model spur change -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Chapter 4 US-China: Rivalry trumps partnership in the Anthropocene -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Chapter 5 What makes EU-China collaboration a better fit for the Anthropocene -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Chapter 6 Networks of states to spur hope and change -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Drawing on first hand interview data with experts and government officials, Olivia Gippner develops a new analytical framework to explore the vested interests and policy debates surrounding Chinese climate policy-making.

"This Occasional Paper aims at providing a new perspective on the relevance of climate change for the EU's external action. Considering its linkages with various areas such as energy security, economic growth and diplomacy, and indeed its importance in terms of future political stability, climate change is a major 'game-changer' in international relations. The issue of climate change, and how to deal with it, therefore presents governments with a significant opportunity to reshape the international order in the light of the major global transformations currently underway. The development of the climate change regime presents the EU with both an opportunity and a threat, in as much as it may either accelerate Europe's decline as a foreign policy actor or, on the contrary, reinvigorate its diplomatic ambitions."--Editor.

The EU has, for a long time, portrayed itself as an international leader on climate change. Previous studies have tended to focus on the characteristics of EU leadership, but have failed to examine the extent to which EU leadership generates 'followship'. This book analyzes EU climate policies towards China and India in order to provide a holistic assessment of EU climate leadership, and makes three key arguments.

The essential primer for understanding climate diplomacy, describing both the major players and the path to progress, from the 1992 Rio Summit to the 2015 Paris Climate Conference Climate Diplomacy from Rio to Paris is the first accessible overview of climate diplomacy in its first quarter century. The author, who has reported on energy and climate for two decades, provides readers with a nuanced account of the major players and their interests—from the United States, the European Union, and China to environmental organizations, the United Nations, and the Vatican—and analyzes the outcomes of the major climate conferences at Rio, Kyoto, Copenhagen, and Paris.