ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book analyses both the internal and the external dimensions of the European Union's (EU) engagement in the diplomacy of climate change. It examines how the domestic political and legal orders of the EU and its Member States shape, enable and constrain its international negotiating positions. The book considers the EU contribution to a particularly important area of climate diplomacy, that of technology and sustainable energy, which is pursued through multiple for a including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and its constituted bodies, the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals, trade negotiations and overseas development assistance. It reveals that the EU to be uniquely capable of pushing climate action forward, through the combination of its normative, legal, commercial, diplomatic and overseas development capabilities.
