Global Environ. Polit. 15, 105–122 (2015)

Bilateral climate change agreements are becoming increasingly important as the UN's all-encompassing international negotiations continue to stall. The EU proclaims itself a leader in these discussions, but is still struggling to attract followers.

Diarmuid Torney, of Dublin City University, UK, conducted interviews with influential policymakers and business people to establish why the EU has only had a limited impact on the climate policies of two of the world's most significant emitters, China and India. Torney finds that the EU's reluctance to alter how it frames climate change debates — moving away from climate protection narratives towards an emphasis on co-benefits such as job creation and economic development — limited European negotiators' influence.

His results indicate that while the EU had some success at keeping climate change on China's political agenda, policy advances were largely the result of domestic developments. In contrast, as EU negotiators were reluctant to engage India's policymakers on their own terms, appeals often fell on deaf ears, with some officials interpreting them as hostile. This refusal to alter its negotiating approach ultimately limits the international influence of the EU, making other countries unwilling to follow the leader.