External publications

EU leadership and climate change

Brandi, Clara
External Publications (2015)

in: Carmen Meinert / Claus Leggewie (eds.), Climate and Culture, Leiden: Brill (forthcoming)

This study analyses European climate leadership at the global climate negotiations of Copenhagen and the summits after Copenhagen. An analysis of the Union’s conduct on climate issues indicates that, by setting an example, directional leadership has been the most important leadership mode of the European Union (EU). The chapter underscores that the EU is an important player shaping global climate policy, but shows that the Union’s leadership has come under pressure. Both the failure of the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009 and the debt crisis have weakened EU climate leadership in recent years. At the climate summits following Copenhagen, however, the EU managed to partially revive some of its leadership position.