The New International Climate Regime and EU Member States’ Commitment

Abstract

This article examines the strength and ambition of twenty-one EU member
states’ national emissions commitments in the context of the Paris
Agreement adopted in December 2015. The outcomes show that mainly
countries situated in Scandinavia, the British Isles and Western Europe
already included post-2020 emissions targets in their national law or
strategies. External factors derived from constructivism or the theory of
structural embeddedness indicate a significant correlation with the
strength and ambition of the commitments, while domestic factors give
mixed results. A number of EU members, including those belonging to the
G-7 group, demonstrate, in comparison with the most developed non-EU
countries, greater efforts to satisfy the important principle of common but
differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. This is essential
for maintaining the EU leadership in the international climate regime.