European Union and international negotiations on climate change. A limited role to play

Abstract

The European Union played a key role on Kyoto Protocol’s entrance into force, and has been a front runner on the implementation of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within its territory. However, the slow progress achieved since the Bali Roadmap was agreed (2007) illustrated a worrying trend that was confirmed by what happened at Copenhagen Summit in 2009. The Cancun Summit in 2010 showed how developing countries also had something to say in order to achieve a positive outcome. All these facts seem to indicate that the EU is losing its influence at international negotiations in the area of climate change, which makes sense if we take into account that its participation on total emissions is smaller each day, and that it is time for the biggest polluters to commit on reduction targets and energy efficiency policies. Nevertheless, the positive results that the measures adopted by the EU are giving in terms of emissions reduction and shift towards a low carbon economy could be taken as example by these countries, reinforcing its assessment role in the future.