Multilateralism Is Dead. Long Live Plurilateralism.
Key takeaways
- But worsening geopolitical tensions make all this harder.
- As a result, the COP process has become a source of alienation.
- Given these conditions, a negotiated fossil fuel phase-out agenda has zero prospect of advancing at the United Nations.
Remember Paris? The adoption of that landmark agreement in 2015 was a moment of possibility, when multilateral diplomacy translated scientific urgency, political compromise, and moral pressure into a shared global framework for action to keep global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius. At their best, the U.N. climate conferences, or COP, have been more than bargaining arenas. They have provided spaces where vulnerable countries, scientific bodies, civil society, and future-oriented claims could force powerful actors to listen and act.
But worsening geopolitical tensions make all this harder. Rivalry between major powers, the global north-south distrust over finance, fossil fuel interests, and security competition have turned climate diplomacy into a defensive struggle over national advantage. The U.N. climate regime has been described as a “multilateral zombie” that is formally alive but increasingly unable to generate the level of collective ambition needed to confront the climate crisis.
Remember Paris? The adoption of that landmark agreement in 2015 was a moment of possibility, when multilateral diplomacy translated scientific urgency, political compromise, and moral pressure into a shared global framework for action to keep global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius. At their best, the U.N. climate conferences, or COP, have been more than bargaining arenas. They have provided spaces where vulnerable countries, scientific bodies, civil society, and future-oriented claims could force powerful actors to listen and act.