The European Union in International Climate Change Politics

The European Union in International Climate Change Politics
Author: Rudiger K.W. Wurzel
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2016-11-25
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317237307

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.

The European Union as a Leader in International Climate Change Politics

The European Union as a Leader in International Climate Change Politics
Author: Rüdiger Wurzel
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2010-11
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1136888241

Explaining the origins and key institutions, this book provides an assessment of the European Union’s leadership role in international climate change politics, with case studies on Britain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, businesses and environmental NGOs.

EU Climate Policy Explained

EU Climate Policy Explained
Author: Jos Delbeke
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 117
Release: 2015-10-05
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317338111

The EU has been the region of the world where the most climate policies have been implemented, and where practical policy experimentation in the field of the environment and climate change has been taking place at a rapid pace over the last twenty-five years. This has led to considerable success in reducing pollution, decoupling emissions from economic growth and fostering global technological leadership. The objective of the book is to explain the EU's climate policies in an accessible way, to demonstrate the step-by-step approach that has been used to develop these policies, and the ways in which they have been tested and further improved in the light of experience. The book shows that there is no single policy instrument that can bring down greenhouse gas emissions, but the challenge has been to put a jigsaw of policy instruments together that is coherent, delivers emissions reductions, and is cost-effective. The book differs from existing books by the fact it covers the EU's emissions trading system, the energy sector and other economic sectors, including their development in the context of international climate policy. Set against the backdrop of the 2015 UN Climate Change conference in Paris, this accessible book will be of great relevance to students, scholars and policy makers alike.

Report on the State of the European Union

Report on the State of the European Union
Author: E. Laurent
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2014-12-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1137451084

This volume is the fourth instalment of the 'Report on the state of the European Union' series. Its shows that if the EU does not want to be ruled by crisis any longer, it must invest in sustainability, political, economic, social and environmental. Europe must turn this elusive and ever-threatening 'crisis' into a chosen and meaningful transition.

Climate Change Policy in the European Union

Climate Change Policy in the European Union
Author: Andrew Jordan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages:
Release: 2010-04-29
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1139486020

The European Union (EU) has emerged as a leading governing body in the international struggle to govern climate change. The transformation that has occurred in its policies and institutions has profoundly affected climate change politics at the international level and within its 27 Member States. But how has this been achieved when the EU comprises so many levels of governance, when political leadership in Europe is so dispersed and the policy choices are especially difficult? Drawing on a variety of detailed case studies spanning the interlinked challenges of mitigation and adaptation, this volume offers an unrivalled account of how different actors wrestled with the complex governance dilemmas associated with climate policy making. Opening up the EU's inner workings to non-specialists, it provides a perspective on the way that the EU governs, as well as exploring its ability to maintain a leading position in international climate change politics.

EU Climate Diplomacy

EU Climate Diplomacy
Author: Stephen Minas
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 317
Release: 2018-05-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1351599763

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 New Climate Policies of the European Union

The New Climate Policies of the European Union
Author: Sebastian Oberthür
Publisher: ASP / VUBPRESS / UPA
Total Pages: 347
Release: 2010
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9054876077

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.

The EU, US and China Tackling Climate Change

The EU, US and China Tackling Climate Change
Author: Sophia Kalantzakos
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 153
Release: 2017-07-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1315298856

The feeling of optimism that followed the COP 21 Paris Conference on Climate Change requires concrete action and steadfast commitment to a process that raises a number of crucial challenges: technological, political, social, and economic. As climate change worsens, new robust leadership is imperative. The EU, US and China Tackling Climate Change examines why a close collaboration between the EU and China may result in the necessary impetus to solidify a vision and a roadmap for our common future in the Anthropocene. Kalantzakos introduces a novel perspective and narrative on climate action leadership through an analysis of international relations. She argues that a close EU-China collaboration, which does not carry the baggage of an imbedded competition for supremacy, may best help the global community move towards a low carbon future and navigate the new challenges of the Anthropocene. Overall, Kalantzakos demonstrates how Europe and China, already strategic partners, can exercise global leadership in an area of crucial common interest through their web of relations, substantial development aid, and the use of soft power tools throughout the developing world. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental politics, international relations, climate change and energy law and policy.

Global Commons, Domestic Decisions

Global Commons, Domestic Decisions
Author: Kathryn Harrison
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2010-07-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0262288877

Comparative case studies and analyses of the influence of domestic politics on countries' climate change policies and Kyoto ratification decisions. Climate change represents a “tragedy of the commons” on a global scale, requiring the cooperation of nations that do not necessarily put the Earth's well-being above their own national interests. And yet international efforts to address global warming have met with some success; the Kyoto Protocol, in which industrialized countries committed to reducing their collective emissions, took effect in 2005 (although without the participation of the United States). Reversing the lens used by previous scholarship on the topic, Global Commons, Domestic Decisions explains international action on climate change from the perspective of countries' domestic politics. In an effort to understand both what progress has been made and why it has been so limited, experts in comparative politics look at the experience of seven jurisdictions in deciding whether or not to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and to pursue national climate change mitigation policies. By analyzing the domestic politics and international positions of the United States, Australia, Russia, China, the European Union, Japan, and Canada, the authors demonstrate clearly that decisions about global policies are often made locally, in the context of electoral and political incentives, the normative commitments of policymakers, and domestic political institutions. Using a common analytical framework throughout, the book offers a unique comparison of the domestic political forces within each nation that affect climate change policy and provides insights into why some countries have been able to adopt innovative and aggressive positions on climate change both domestically and internationally.

Great Powers, Climate Change, and Global Environmental Responsibilities

Great Powers, Climate Change, and Global Environmental Responsibilities
Author: Robert Falkner
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2022-01-10
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0192635735

This book is the first of its kind to examine the role of great powers in the international politics of climate change. It develops a novel analytical framework for studying environmental power in international relations, what counts as a great power in the environmental field, and what their special environmental responsibilities are. In doing so, the book connects International Relations (IR) debates on power inequality, great powers and great power management, with global environmental politics (GEP) scholarship. The book brings together leading scholars in IR and GEP whose contributions focus on major environmental powers (United States, China, European Union, India, Brazil, Russia) and international institutions and issue areas (UN Security Council, multilateral environmental agreements, international climate leadership, coal politics). The contributors to this volume examine how individual great powers have responded to the global climate challenge and whether they have accepted a special responsibility for stabilizing the global climate. They place emerging discourses on great power responsibility in the context of wider debates about international environmental leadership and climate change securitization. And they provide new insights into how international power inequality intersects with the global ecological crisis, and what special role great powers could and should play in the international fight against global warming.