International Influences Of China’s Participation In Global Climate Governance

In recent decades, we have witnessed the emergence and the development of many new theories and concepts. One example is the concept of global governance which includes security governance, environment governance, finance governance, climate governance, etc. Among them, the global climate governance has recently become a hot topic for many countries that have suffered extreme weather phenomena, such as abnormal rainfalls and extreme droughts, caused by the global warming. Besides, the global warming is also the reason for the melting glaciers which lead the sea level rise and endanger the survival of small island countries. More and more countries and regions will be in danger of the climate catastrophes, if the international community continues to ignore the climate change problem. It is in this context that states, international or regional organisations, enterprises and individuals are all involved in the climate governance. Between all the actors, sovereign states and the supranational association composed of sovereign states, like the European Union (EU), are playing an irreplaceable role in the climate governance and they affect directly the governance.As the world’s second largest economy and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China is an important member of the international community. If it participates in the global climate governance, it is not only to improve its international image, but also to realise its economic restructure and sustainable development, and even to be responsible for the future generations. The ways to participate in the climate governance are various. One of them is to be involved in the international negotiations through which countries could talk with other countries about the measures, targets and mechanisms of the governance. China’s participation in global climate negotiations has effects at the domestic level on economic production, people’s life-style and consumption patterns, and it also has some international influences which are the main purpose of this thesis. We will analyse the international influences of China’s participation in global climate governance with the case study of its participation in international climate negotiations since the Copenhagen Summit. This thesis begins with the analyses of several climate negotiations since the Copenhagen Climate Conference, the focus in the negotiations, the principles and positions held by China in climate negotiations. On these bases, the following discussion will be focused on the international influences of China’s participation in international climate negotiations, which have two main aspects:first, the influence on different negotiating groups, including US, EU and developing countries, as well as the influences on the relations between China and the above-mentioned parties; second, the effects on negotiation process, flexibility mechanisms and compliance mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol.