Paradigm shift in diplomacy due to climate change? Not yet there --- The paradigm shift in international diplomacy in relation to climate change is still confined in an ideal world. In fact, we can see that climate diplomats around every corner are engaging in the defense of national interests, which is why the world has a climate agreement every 15 years. This can also be seen in the joint declarations, and we have the example of the US-CN document at COP26. The language is always shaped in such a way that national interests are not affected by international commitments. Bilateral declarations are a way to prevent third parties from imposing stricter conditions in a multilateral document on the two signatory parties. The paradigm shift will begin to work when all parties involved start moving in the same direction and at roughly the same speed. This would mean a commonality of interests, but we are still a long way from that, I'm afraid.

Source author: Vojko Bratina vbratina@katamail.com