British environmental foreign policy identity post-Brexit: environment and climate policy

Since the 2016 referendum on leaving the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom (UK) government has been keen to persuade commentators and stakeholders that Brexit will not be bad for the UK’s environment. Rather in line with the role of Britain as a great power, the government has suggested that when it comes to the environment the UK can be a global superpower, leading other nations in its pursuit of ambitious environmental policy goals. This new environmental foreign policy role orientation has been articulated through the concept of ‘Green Brexit’ and showcased via the chairing of a major Climate Change Conference (the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Conference of the Parties (COP) 26) in Glasgow in 2021. However, whilst there was a flurry of policy activity around COP26, overall ‘Green Brexit’, has yet to be underpinned by coherent and credible domestic policy commitments necessary for effective international environmental leadership.