Two major international agreements will be signed in 2015, making it an important year for climate change: a new legally binding global treaty on climate change and a new sustainable development framework to replace the Millennium Development Goals. Although both agenda are interlinked, negotiations on each are taking place in separate tracks. Overall success will be a direct function of the level of ambition on both sides of the equation.
Europe is set to play an important role in both negotiation processes. Climate change is at the center of the EU’s 2008 international security strategy and it is regarded as a “threat multiplier” — a global environmental and development challenge that will exacerbate instability and create humanitarian, political, economic and security risks affecting European interests.
Sustainable development and the fight against climate change are the EU’s overarching objectives as set by the Lisbon Treaty. Since 2009, Brussels has actively revamped its foreign policy architecture on climate action. It has refined its climate diplomacy strategy, made bold financial commitments to scale up climate financing until 2020 and mainstreamed climate change throughout its various budget instruments.