Climate Club Politics - The Challenges of Making a Small Group Work on a Global Issue

Though climate clubs have gained popularity in both political processes and academic studies, they also evoke numerous, often controversial reactions. Evidently, there is a gap between political expectations and the reality of clubs. This review article will dive into the controversies that come with the launch and implementation of climate clubs, along three broad challenges: (1) Efficacy, efficiency, and goal setting: Clubs have the benefit that they do not need to tackle the whole of the climate policy field (as opposed to the UNFCCC) but can focus on specific issues such as industrial decarbonization (e.g., G7-launched Climate Club) or greenhouse gas (e.g., Global Methane Pledge). However, in the practice, when it comes to deciding on actions, goals, or finances, clubs often face difficulties similar to the UNFCCC. Initially (more) concrete visions (e.g., a standard for clean steel) become blurrier and the club resembles a technical exchange forum. (2) Membership: exclusiveness vs. inclusiveness: While certain members are needed to make a climate club functional – e.g., providing money and political power, it is also clear that those countries that will suffer mostly from the climate change must be included. Clubs often start with small numbers, but then, aiming for stronger inclusiveness, grow significantly. Large clubs house a large number of varying member interests, leading to difficult and slower decision-making processes. (3) Ambition, implementation, voluntariness: Available funding is often limited and clubs, instead of implementing large-scale climate change mitigation, become lighthouse project facilitators. The overall impact of the club thus depends on countries’ willingness and resources to implement actions. At the same time, the club is influenced by countries’ domestic politics, and e.g., government changes can also impact engagement and funding in clubs. In view of these trade-offs, this article assesses whether the benefits of clubs found in empirical research merit their existence and launch. It will engage with the broader questions of whether climate clubs can cater to global justice and what their role in the multilateral climate policy process can be.