Opposites Attract? Coalitions and Their Ambitions in the Clean Energy Ministerial

Collaboration is key for successful global climate governance. However, the renewable energy transition proves to be a challenging issue because competing market interests, interdependencies or cross-border conflicts hinder more coalitions to form. Climate clubs are a new way to co-operate by promoting trade and the exchange of best practice examples. One major platform where respective energy ministers work together is the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM). This climate club aims at implementing the goals of the Paris Agreement in the field of energy policy and enables countries to propose their own initiatives on clean energy technologies. The first part of the study shows with the help of a network analysis which countries work together on specific focus issues as co-leaders in coalitions. Coalitions have remained rather stable over time since the CEM’s launch in 2009 until today. As of now, some countries such as the US, Canada and India form strong ties with other countries, while other CEM members such as Russia are only part of one small coalition. The second part of the analysis reveals which similarities and differences exist within and between the meanwhile twenty coalition groups. On the one hand, countries with similar economic resources and technological expertise could more easily develop common strategies. On the other hand, those members with different energy profiles could benefit from new trade opportunities. This implies that climate clubs such as the CEM offer a place for likely and unlikely coalitions to form and to learn from each other in order to adapt to a constantly changing geo-political environment.