European Climate Policy and Diplomacy

Course taught at Leiden University, academic year 2025-26

Course description

The European Union (EU) has the most comprehensive system globally to combat climate change. In this course, we will explore how climate policy evolved, first as part of the broader EU environmental policy and second on its own. We will continue by analyzing the ways the European climate diplomacy is performed, to whom it is addressed, and to what extent it is successful. Then, a presentation of the European Green Deal and the European Climate Law will follow, exploring how they have strengthened the institutional framework for European climate policy and diplomacy. A series of examples will be utilized in order for the students to acquire practical knowledge of how European climate policy and diplomacy operate, such as the attempt of the EU to develop a climate policy in shipping, as well as its presence in the International Maritime Organization. The course will be taught through the lens of theoretical approaches to policymaking and diplomacy/negotiation. During the course, a broader discussion of why the EU has decided to focus so intensively on combating climate change, as well as how recent developments indicate a distancing from its stated goals, will take place.  

Course characteristics

Elective course available to 3rd year students from:

  • the Bachelors Degree International Relations and Organization of the Institute of Political Science.

  • Exchange and Study Abroad Students.

Mode of instruction:

  • Seminars.

The course is structured in five thematic units, followed by the final in-class activity.

The evolution of the EU climate policy

Readings:

  • Delreux T & Ohler F (2019) ‘Climate Policy in European Union Politics’. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics.

  • Vogler J (2013) ‘Energy and Climate Policy’. In Bretherton C and Mannin M (eds.) The Europeanization of European Politics (New York: Palgrave Macmillan), pp. 137-149.

The international system to tackle climate change and the role of the EU

Readings:

  • Doussis E & Dikaios G (2025) ‘Climate Diplomacy Under the UNFCCC: Past, Present, and Future’. In Naskou-Perraki P (ed.) Contemporary Diplomatic and Consular Relations: Selected Aspects (Cham: Springer), pp. 153-163.

  • Sims Gallagher K (2026) ‘Can China Replace an Absent America in the Climate Fight?’. Foreign Policy, January 5.

Learning Objectives

On completing the course, students will be able to:

  • Understand and critically assess climate policies and diplomacy, with a special emphasis on the EU.

  • Understand and critically assess the mechanisms of (climate) policymaking and diplomacy.

  • Map and evaluate the climate action of the EU, both internally and externally.

  • Conduct high-quality policy briefs and earn the basic skills of negotiating.

Contemporary EU climate policy and diplomacy: From 2010s to today

Readings:

  • Earsom J & Petri F (2025) ‘Winds of change? The impact of the European Green Deal on the practice of EU climate diplomacy’. Journal of European Integration.

  • Eckert S (2021) ‘The European Green Deal and the EU’s Regulatory Power in Times of Crisis’. Journal of Common Market Studies 59(S1): 81-91.

  • Van Schaik L (2010) ‘The Sustainability of the EU’s Model for Climate Diplomacy’. In Oberthür S and Pallemaerts M (eds.) New Climate Policies of the European Union: Internal Legislation and Climate Diplomacy (Brussels: Brussels University Press), pp. 251-280.

Climate negotiations simulation

During this lecture, a simulation game will be conducted. Students will acquire positions of diplomats and will attempt to negotiate a climate agreement. Students will be separated in several groups, and they will be allocated a country (or a group of countries with similar interests). They will be given an info-sheet with all the information they need to know for the negotiation, and they can use their knowledge based on the readings of the course or other courses and beyond. The goal is to run as many rounds of negotiations as it needs so every student speaks at least one time. 

Assessment

Grades are based on:

  • In-class participation (15%).

  • In-class quiz (25%).

  • In-class oral assessment/activity (preparation will take place in class) (20%).

  • A one-pager take-away of the activity (15%).

  • Policy brief [word limit: 800-1000] (25%).

Climate policymaking and diplomacy: The example of the EU

Readings:

  • Dikaios G (2024) EU Climate Diplomacy towards the IMO and ICAO (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan), pp. 71-110 (Chapter 3: Performing normative EU climate diplomacy: An analytical framework).

Performing EU climate diplomacy: The case of maritime transport

Readings:

  • Dikaios G & Blavoukos S (2023) ‘Influencing the International Transport Regime Complex: The EU’s Climate Action in ICAO and IMO’. Politics and Governance 11(2): 62-71.

  • Earsom J (2025) ‘Making waves or ripples? The influence of the European Green Deal on the revised IMO GHG strategy’. International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics 25(2): 231-246.

  • Earsom J & Delreux T (2021) ‘A Nice Tailwind: The EU’s Goal Achievement at the IMO Initial Strategy’. Politics and Governance 9(3): 401-411.