The EU is a party to all major Multi-lateral Environmental Agreements covering a whole variety of environmental issues. The EU is also able to fully participate in international environmental negotiations, either as an observer in the UN context or as a party to the mother treaty in various Conference of the Parties (COPs) and Meeting of the Parties (MOPs). The EU is often observed as a leader in global environmental politics, but its leadership role can nowadays also be questioned, especially in the area of climate change. The EU’s international climate change policy consists of three building blocks (environmental integrity, multilateralism, a legally binding instrument), which are under pressure in the context of the current climate change negotiations. As in other areas of external action, the EU’s external environmental policy is often characterised by a mismatch between its ambitions and its ability to deliver in practice.