The impact of the environment in general and climate change in particular is now entrenched as a key political concern. The comprehensively revised edition of this popular text provides an accessible, concise and genuinely international introduction to the politics of the environment in theory and practice at both national and global level.

In the 21st century the climate change debate is increasingly moving up the agenda. In this topical book Lyn Jaggard evaluates the role of ideas in the evolution of the politics of climate change. She investigates the evolution of climate change policy in the European Union and specifically Germany's role in the international relations of climate change. Jaggard argues that Germany's federal system has facilitated the political mainstreaming of popular environmental concerns which has led to the development of effective environmental domestic and foreign policy-making, influencing both European and wider climate change policy.