People's Rebuplic of China's Performance in the UNFCCC : A Comparison of China's Position at COP15 Copenhagen to COP22 Marrakech

Abstract: Since the US election in the fall of 2016, China have been looked towards to fill a leadership position in climate change negotiations. This essay focuses on determining China's efficiency in the COP15 and COP22 negotiations in establishing its ambitions and policy objectives. The results show that China was very effective in achieveing their policy aims both at COP15 and COP22 even if the negotiations had different aims. The overall performance of China has affected the COP outcomes and helped its establishment of a leadership role within the group of developing countries in the UNFCCC. This essay also shows that the prior expectation for a UNFCCC climate change negotiation might be a better explanatory factor than institutional goal in determining policy objectives in effectiveness studies.