The European Union And Global Climate Change Governance: The Return Of The "leader"

The goal of this dissertation is to locate the status of the European Union in global climate regime through analysing the role which the EU played in the three UNFCCC2conferences after the year of2009, Copenhagen Conference, Cancun Conference and Durban Conference. It is also a powerful reply to some objections to the position of the EU, via comparison with the United States of America and China, the other two competing power in global climate regime.Climate change is a vital policy issue which the people on the earth have been facing after the era of industrialization, especially after World War Two. The UNFCCC is the most important platform for different countries to negotiate, exchange views, or conflict in this area. The European Union has been the leader of Kyoto Process undoubtly, however, this position has changed tremendously after Copenhagen Conference since2009. The EU has always been pushing the process forward to make a comprehensive and legally-binding agreement and in active consultation with other actors in the UNFCCC conference and other global climate change conferences. Is it the EU that continues to lead the governance of climate change and how can we find where the EU stands? The answer to these questions takes tremendous meaning to the ongoing development of climate change regime.This dissertation will evaluate the status of the EU according to the three UNFCCC conferences, held in Denmark, Mexico, and South Africa, separately. The analytical framework of contribution level used for evaluation is divided into three dimensions, which are demonstration effect, negotiation process, degree of stance reflected in each agreement or accord. The object of this paper is beyond the three conventions, which involves what the EU did during the break of every two conferences and what other countries, mostly the United States and China, arranged for global climate change regime. The result is to show the evolution of the EU status, from "bystander" to "bridge-builder", and, finally, to "leader". Compared with the status before Copenhagen Conference, this particular process can be called the "return" of the leader. In the conclusion part, the EU is depicted as an inevitably irreplaceable leader in global climate change regime.