German and European Climate Foreign Policy: Partnerships amid Geoeconomic Competition

The conditions for international climate cooperation have changed fundamentally. Climate policy is now closely intertwined with industrial policy, economic security and geopolitical competition. For the EU, this means combining the necessary decarbonisation with maintaining its economic competitiveness and strengthening the resilience of critical supply chains. While the European Green Deal established the framework for the transformation of the European economy, the Clean Industrial Deal places greater emphasis on the industrial policy dimension of this transformation.

The successful implementation of this agenda depends to a significant extent on the EU’s ability to build durable and mutually beneficial partnerships with third countries and to align existing cooperation more strategically. For the EU and Germany, such partnerships matter not only for climate policy. They are also central to successful green industrial policy, for example by helping to diversify supply chains and secure access to critical raw materials, as well as for shaping international rules for clean technologies. Instruments such as Global Gateway, Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships (CTIPs), regulatory cooperation and a more targeted clean-tech diplomacy can offer important avenues for cooperation.

Against this backdrop, the research project examines how Germany and the EU can pursue a more strategic climate foreign policy that brings together decarbonisation, competitiveness and geopolitical room for manoeuvre. The focus is on Brazil, Colombia and Chile. The three countries are important partners for international climate policy and for the development of sustainable raw-material value chains and clean-tech markets, while also playing important roles as middle powers in an increasingly multipolar order. Particular attention is given to the question of how climate partnerships can be designed to be credible, reliable and mutually beneficial in a world shaped by geopolitical competition. The project examines concrete areas of cooperation, including the link between decarbonisation and green industrial policy, a just transition away from fossil fuels, and the development of resilient supply chains for clean technologies.

Three questions are at the centre of the project: How is growing geopolitical and geoeconomic competition changing the conditions for international climate cooperation and the role of middle powers? How can Germany and the EU shape their partnerships with Brazil, Colombia and Chile in ways that reconcile decarbonisation, competitiveness and security of supply? And how can durable alliances for ambitious international climate policy be built in this context?

Duration:
August 2023 – August 2026. The project builds on a predecessor project that ran from 2022 to 2023. Some publications from that predecessor project are therefore also listed here.

Funding:
The project is funded by the European Climate Foundation (ECF).