Markus Lederer is Professor of Political Science, with a focus on International Relations at Technical University Darmstadt. His research interests cover international relations, security politics, and global climate politics where he focuses on the politics of green transformations in the global South, the institutional aspects of setting up market mechanisms, and the role of forest governance. Markus currently leads a research project on “The Political Institutionalization of Climate Change Mitigation in Emerging Economies" funded by the German science foundation.

Key messages

(1) Dealing with climate change is a highly complex task and there are no silver bullets. On the contrary, economic and technical interventions often have negative social or political consequences that have to be taken into account. The earlier and more openly this is done, the more legitimate and eventually effective policies will evolve. The EU's Green Deal is a first, very first, step in this direction.

(2) There is no solution to the climate problem or to many environmental crises without including the most important emerging economies and eventually the global South as a whole. This has changed the structure of world politics and requires the active engagement of the EU and its member states in global climate politics on all levels and with various governmental and non-governmental actors. But the EU and its members cannot just lead by example; they will have to invest heavily in mitigation and adaptation programs in the global South. Climate policy must therefore become part of the EU's foreign policy and foreign economic policy.

(3) Within many countries of the global South, climate and environmental policies will be successful only if a new and more responsive institutional setup is put into place. This requires state- and institution-building and very often entails a strengthening of national administrative systems. For example, if the EU really wants to stop deforestation in Indonesia, not only will its citizens have to change their consumption patterns, but Indonesia will also have to change the way its bureaucracy works.