ABSTRACT
Despite two decades of climate negotiations global warming is now a reality and greenhouse gas emissions keep going up. So what good is international climate diplomacy and how much will it really matter in the coming years? While the outcome of decades of talks so far has been very disappointing, the foundation is nevertheless being built culturally, politically and institutionally for a decarbonisation of the global economy in the coming decades. However, fundamental short-term political and economic interests in some key countries continue to prevail over long-term public policy objectives on the international level. By framing the issue in terms of nation-state obligations and by banking on an ever more complex global emission trading and carbon offset system that may never work as intended, slow progress on the international level feeds back negatively to the national level in more progressive countries.
