Challenges for global environmental diplomacy in Australia and the European Union

Abstract

One of the predominant issues on the agenda of diplomats and politicians is how to address the consequences of shifts in perception about threats to the environment and the actual short and long-term characteristics and effects of environmental degradation. Another challenge is that such issues as climate change impact on many areas including trade, economic and fiscal policies, employment, transport, agriculture and regional development. Furthermore, decisions taken at a national level cannot be isolated from international concerns, as in the case of the Kyoto Protocol. This paper maps out some of the differences between Australia and such transnational organizations as the European Union, be they in relation to the role of developing countries in tackling climate change, the use of market mechanisms to tackle environmental problems and the implementation of punitive compliance systems. The paper explores why on some issues Australia and the EU might be perceived as either leaders and pioneers or laggards. The paper also looks beyond the binary coding of ‘laggards’ versus ‘leaders’ to some striking parallels between the two jurisdictions in their efforts to achieve sustainable development, ecological modernisation and introduce new environmental policy instruments as well as in similar pressures arising from changes in value systems over the past four decades. The paper is organized around four themes: challenges facing both Australia and the EU; why the EU is regarded as a global leader; how Australia has engaged with sustainable development; and how commonalities are more striking than differences.