The European Union’s international climate leadership: towards a grand climate strategy?

ABSTRACT

Advancing literature on EU international climate strategy, this article offers a fresh and comprehensive assessment of the EU's international leadership on climate change. Conceptually, it provides a framework for systematic analysis of different facets of exemplary and diplomatic leadership taking into account key framework conditions. Empirically, we trace the achievements and challenges of the EU's climate leadership since the early 1990s, with emphasis on contemporary developments. We find that the EU has successfully adapted its climate leadership to evolving challenges over time. However, intensified climate geopolitics has reinforced demand for the EU to enhance its capabilities for a proactive ‘grand climate strategy’. Grand strategizing would require coordination of EU institutions and EU member states at highest political levels. In addition to facilitating the maintenance of the achievements so far, it could provide for a stronger integration of domestic and international climate policy and across other policy fields and fora.

KEYWORDS:

• Climate policy
• effectiveness
• geopolitics
• grand strategy
• leadership
• Paris Agreement

Acknowledgements

This article was prepared in the context of the Jean Monnet Network Governing the EU's climate and energy transition in turbulent times (GOVTRAN: www.govtran.eu), with the support of the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union. We would like to thank three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency [Grant number 600328-EPP-1-2018-1-BE-EPPJMO-NETWORK].

Notes on contributors

Sebastian Oberthür

Sebastian Oberthür is professor of environment and sustainable development at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and professor of environmental policy and law at the University of Eastern Finland.

Claire Dupont

Claire Dupont is assistant professor of European and international governance at the Department of Public Governance and Management at Ghent University.