The EU’s Role in International Climate Change Policy-Making: A Global Leader in Decline?

Abstract

This chapter assesses the European Union’s (EU) role in international climate change policy-making by comparing the EU’s degree of goal attainment at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP) negotiations in Copenhagen in 2009 and Cancún in 2010. By making use of three analytical factors (coherence, the opportunity structure and politicisation) we assess the outcomes of both negotiations for the EU. The Durban negotiations of 2011 are touched upon in the conclusions.