Mapping climate and energy messages of European Union Delegations – Challenges and synergies of cross-sectoral diplomatic outreach

European Union (EU) Delegations have a significant role to play in implementing EU diplomatic ambitions in various third country contexts. EU diplomats build relations with local counterparts; they implement outreach activities to governmental and non-governmental stakeholders; they develop and monitor projects; and therewith give a face to the EU on the ground. As such, they contribute to the EU’s diplomatic outreach in a continuous fashion, next to the EU’s role at international negotiations and in summit diplomacy. Previous research has already illustrated the role of EU Delegations as relevant actors in implementing climate diplomacy outreach ahead of COP21 in 2015 (Biedenkopf & Petri 2019). Since this successful 2015 outreach, the EU’s diplomatic networks in third countries have been regularly mentioned in EU policy documents, such as the Foreign Affairs Council conclusions on climate diplomacy. The latest ‘Council conclusions on Climate and Energy – Delivering on the external dimension of the European Green Deal’ (January 2021) also include the target for EU Delegations and Member States’ embassies to ‘projec[t] the EU’s commitment and leadership in this field’. This paper analyses the increasingly cross-sectoral nature of diplomatic outreach, as conducted by EU Delegations in various third countries. Building on qualitative interviews with EU diplomats (gathered in three waves in 2015, 2018, 2021/22), insights on EU diplomats’ outreach activities on climate and energy are used to identify the types of diplomatic messages spread to project EU ambitions in this field. As such, the paper discusses synergies and challenges in EU Delegations’ cross-sectoral outreach on climate and energy diplomacy.