International Cooperative Initiatives and Global Climate Cooperation in the Era of Polycrisis: An Analysis of the Breakthrough Agenda

International Cooperative Initiatives (ICIs) are transboundary voluntary efforts by groups of governmental and/or non-governmental actors to achieve specific climate-related goals. With functions ranging from rule setting, signalling, and knowledge exchange, to means of implementation and orchestration, ICIs have the potential to close the ambition and implementation gap in global climate action. In an era of compounding climate extremes, developmental challenges, geopolitical tensions, resurgence of protectionist and nationalist policies, the effectiveness of such partnerships is often called into question. With a mix of actors and activities focusing on diverse functions and sectors, ICIs are ideal microcosms to study global coordination and the adaptability of multistakeholder partnerships. Reviewing the implementation of ICIs over time is essential to understand the role of partnerships in furthering collective goals when traditional governance modes are fragmenting. Initiatives addressing the decarbonisation of energy-intensive industries are a key component of the ICI landscape. The Breakthrough Agenda, launched at COP26 in 2021, is a pioneer initiative focused on a shared policy commitment to accelerate industrial decarbonisation. To this end, it convenes various stakeholders to foster international cooperation in seven high-emitting sectors. The article examines the effectiveness and fairness of the Breakthrough Agenda over time focusing on the two sectors of steel, and concrete and cement. We analyse the impact of changing climate policy and geopolitical competition on the functioning of the ICI. In doing so, we examine how the Breakthrough Agenda relates to the UNFCCC processes and contributes to the accountability and legitimacy of ICIs in global climate governance. The article proceeds in three steps. First, we develop the conceptual framework on effectiveness and fairness based on a review of existing literature on ICIs and international environmental governance. For effectiveness, we examine three key aspects, namely ambition, the fit of the membership with the objectives pursued and the ICI’s ability to monitor and demonstrate progress over time. For fairness, we analyse the membership mix for its coverage of main stakeholders, transparency of internal governance processes, governance resources and distributional impacts. This conceptual framework will be applied to analyse the Breakthrough Agenda. A particular focus of the analysis will be the role of linkages to the UNFCCC process for the Breakthrough Agenda’s effectiveness and fairness (and hence its legitimacy). On the basis of the analysis, we identify potential areas to enhance the Breakthrough Agenda’s effectiveness and fairness, including strengthened linkages to UNFCCC processes. The paper will be based on the analysis of existing academic literature, relevant reports (Breakthrough Agenda, UNFCCC, IPCC, UNEP, think tanks, etc.), and interviews with relevant governmental and non-governmental stakeholders. It aims to generate insights on the significance of multistakeholder partnerships and avenues for deepening international climate cooperation through transnational and multilateral processes, and their interlinkage.