EU Climate Governance and Burden Sharing : Comprehensive Analysis Based on Interest and Norm

Burden-sharing issues derived from governance of international public affairs can be understood in following two questions: One is motive, which explore how a country decides to share specific burden, associated with national interest and needed cost-benefit analysis. The other is model, which how to distribute specific burden among countries, associated with normative discussion of equality and justice. EU has initiated global climate governance and played a pivotal role both policy position and implement. Given EU negotiates both international and domestic level, this article aims to explain burden sharing issues of what burden EU shares and how to distribute burden among EU members. First, we provide documentary review and rethink the concept of burden sharing. Second, it tries to understand evolution of EU climate governance strategy and its measures. Finally, it explains the burden sharing issues of EU by comprehensive analysis based on both interest and norm. This article concludes that, burden sharing issues are not only bargaining between cost and benefit, but also normative value transition about equality and justice. As the rising of frequency and intensity of climate change and extreme climate incidents, crisis consciousness will speed up its spilling over effect of burden sharing idea, and EU experience shall be a worthy pattern for international society.