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.
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Notes
- 1.
UNFCCC Draft decision-/CP.16, Financial mechanism of the Convention: fourth review of the financial mechanism: http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/cop_16/conference_documents/application/pdf/20101204_cop16_fm.pdf, accessed on 5 March 2012.
- 2.
We use the term “coherence” rather than ‘cohesion’ because it is more widely used in the literature and signifies basically the same phenomenon/concept (Niemann and Bretherton 2013, forthcoming).
- 3.
An assigned amount unit (AAU) represents an allowance to emit greenhouse gases comprising one metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalents. AAUs have been created for expressing the targets for reducing emissions under the Kyoto Protocol. The targets are expressed as levels of allowed emissions, which are divided into AAUs (UNFCCC 2012b).
- 4.
The G77 is one of the five regional groups within the UNFCCC, of which many developing countries are members. The group was founded in 1964 by 77 developing countries in the context of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and has more than 130 members (UNFCCC 2012c).
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Interviews
Interview with Commission Official, Brussels, 14 April 2011
Interview with Council Secretariat Representative, Brussels, 3 May 2010
Interview with Dutch Delegate, The Hague, 12 May 2010
Interview with EP Delegate by Telephone, 12 May 2010
Interview with UK Delegate by Telephone, 10 May 2010
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Groen, L., Niemann, A., Oberthür, S. (2013). The EU’s Role in International Climate Change Policy-Making: A Global Leader in Decline?. In: Boening, A., Kremer, JF., van Loon, A. (eds) Global Power Europe - Vol. 2. Global Power Shift. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32416-1_3
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