Evaluating EU responsiveness to the evolution of the international regime complex on climate change

Earsom, Joseph;Delreux, Tom
(2021) International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics — Vol. 21, n° 4, p. 711-728 (2021)

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Over the past decades, the international governance of climate change has evolved from a singular forum—the UNFCCC—to a larger international regime complex of a variety of fora covering different aspects of the broader climate change issue. The international regime complex on climate change (IRCCC) presents particular challenges and opportunities for ambitious climate actors like the European Union. However, it remains unclear how much importance the EU has attributed to the non-UNFCCC fora of the complex over time and whether the EU is responsive in its climate diplomacy to the evolving international governance structure. This paper therefore addresses the question: To what extent has the importance that the EU has placed on non-UNFCCC fora coincided with the evolution of the international regime complex on climate change? Using qualitative coding of Council Conclusions related to multilateral climate diplomacy (1994–2018), the article finds that the EU is indeed responsive, though to varying degrees, to the evolution of the IRCCC. Additionally, the EU has been more responsive to fora in certain policy areas than others, though the extent this importance is reciprocated beyond the UNFCCC context is called into question. This article therefore provides an updated perspective of not only the importance of non-UNFCCC fora to EU climate diplomacy but also in the IRCCC more broadly.
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Earsom, J., & Delreux, T. (2021). Evaluating EU responsiveness to the evolution of the international regime complex on climate change. International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 21(4), 711-728. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10784-021-09541-8 (Original work published 2021)