A Comparative Study Of Climate Change Policies In Europe And America

In the1970s, the environment problem attracted ordinary people’s attention andaroused world-wide concerns. Since the1990s, climate change has become a keyword of international politics. Surrounding global climate negotiation, major countriesin the world initiated a new round of competition.The EU and the USA have formed their own climate policies. Their respectivepolicies,as well as their contest for the leadership in global climate regime, provide anew and important perspective for the study of EU-US relations. This article reviewsthe development of climate policies of the EU and the USA, points out theirdivergences, and analyses the reasons from both inside and outside. Based ondifferent history and political and cultural traditions, the EU and the USA havedifferent ideas on sovereignty and social welfare;they have adopted distinctiveeconomic modes and have established different domestic political systems. Besides,the coexistence of unipolarity and multipolarity in the current international systemstimulates the EU to balance the USA. Playing a leading role in the global climatenegotiation can consolidate the EU, advocate its effective multilateralism and enhanceits soft power. The leadership in the global climate regime serves as a useful meansfor the EU to balance the USA.