Abstract
The study compares how Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia publicly address global climate change. Even though the institutions of the European Union play a pivotal role in setting climate change mitigation goals, and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) are submitted collectively, the ambition and involvement vary significantly among different EU member states. Each country has diplomatic tools to negotiate, particularly during the Conference of the Parties (COP), the annual climate conferences held within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) since 1995, as well as through external action. Successful climate diplomacy in this study is understood as proactive participation in the aforementioned conferences, including delivering high-level statements, sizeable delegations, and the involvement of different stakeholders in the process, memberships and propositions in Climate clubs aiming at quicker decarbonisation, and contributions to international climate finance by assisting developing countries. Climate diplomacy is evaluated by analysing the documents available on the UNFCCC website regarding participation, statements, and pledges to climate finance. This case study helps to understand the role and negotiating potential of separate EU member states in climate change talks, where each can become frontrunners, passive bystanders or obstructionists in implementing the common EU policy and contributing to global decarbonisation efforts.