Summary

This article by Niklas Bremberg, Associate Professor at Stockholm University and Associate Researcher at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI), explores the drivers and patterns of geo-politicization of EU climate diplomacy. It showcases the impact of geopolitical tensions on global climate politics, and the EU’s role in global climate governance.

This article is published by the scientific journal European Politics and Society.

Key messages

• The authors analysis suggests that there is indeed an ongoing geo-politicization of EU climate diplomacy, albeit perhaps not enough to qualify it as a paradigm shift. Rather, climate diplomacy represents a case of a paradigm-reinforcing effect of geopolitics on EU policies.
• However, their analysis also suggests that these framings are articulated alongside calls for new collaborative formats to advance climate action which seem more attuned to the needs of responding to the challenges of the Anthropocene, such as developments following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
• In that sense, the EU can respond to this new dynamic, albeit incrementally. Yet, it appears constrained by existing frames and institutions. While the findings here primarily relate to climate, the EU’s incremental shifts offer insights into its potential as a geopolitical actor in general.