Comparative Research On Climate Policy Of The United States And The European Union

In the1970s, climate change was only an environmental problem. With a series of climate conferences being held, climate change has become an important issue in the field of international politics. Since the1990s, the United Nations officially launched the international negotiations. Until now, the19th conference has been held successfully. These negotiations have acquired several considerable achievements, which include the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Kyoto Protocol, and Bali Road Map etc.As the two important roles of the international climate negotiations, the EU and the USA have formed their own climate policies. This article summarizes the evolution of climate policies of the EU and the USA, points out their divergences. Before Bush administration, climate problems had yet gone into the political agenda of the United States. Thus the research starts from Bush administration. After George H. Bush Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama come out different climate policies which had their different features. Overall, the climate policy of the United States was lack of continuity. EU’s climate policy roughly experienced four historical periods. Since1970s, it began sprouting. Entering the1990’s, EU’s climate policy had developed rapidly. The EU played a major role in bringing the negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol to a successful conclusion, in particular after the US withdrawal. At the beginning of2000, the European Commission established the European Climate Change Programme (ECCP) which marked the formation of the EU’s climate policy. After2007, with the beginning of the post-kyoto negotiations, the European Union launched more ambitious climate strategy. Overall, EU’s climate policy is much more systematic than USA.This article further analyzes the reasons from both inside and outside in order to explain the divergences of climate policies between the EU and the USA. Based on different history and political and cultural traditions, the EU and the USA have different ideas on sovereignty and social welfare; they have adopted distinctive economic modes and have established different domestic political systems. Playing a leading role can consolidate the EU, practice its effective multilateralism and enhance its soft power. The leadership in the global climate regime serves as a useful means for the EU to balance the USA. And the united stated also wants to regain the climate leadership. But a new global accord on climate change is urgently needed.