The EU, China and the Paris Climate Summit

The negotiations being conducted in the run-up to Paris provide not only an opportunity to finally agree to a substantial regime reform , but also a new occasion for China and the EU to fully (re-)establish their reputation in global climate politics and to durably contribute to a global regime whose viability will depend to a large extent on the commitment of the largest emitters. Central to the deal, as became apparent at Copenhagen, will be the contributions and positions of the two top emitters, China and the United States, as well as those of other emerging countries with rising emission profiles. The EU, whose emissions are in absolute and relative decline, arguably comes next in line, followed by developed countries such as Australia, Canada and Japan. At COP 15, both China and the EU seemed unprepared for their emerging new roles: China for responding to calls for leadership, and the EU for reacting to the fact that it was not asked to take on leadership. Both thus needed to develop strategies to better perform their new roles in the run-up to and at major global climate summits. Against this backdrop, this contribution asks what the EU and China can contribute to the Paris summit individually and, especially, collectively.status: publishe