Revisiting International Political Leadership: Nordic Leadership in Informal Intergovernmental Climate Organisations

The growing significance of informal intergovernmental organisations (IIGOs) in global politics necessitates a re‐evaluation of leadership dynamics. We develop a theory framework that enables us to explain why countries take on leadership roles in IIGOs, with a specific focus on climate politics. Governments do not assume leadership in IIGOs because they want to shape bargaining processes within traditional and formal organisations, such as the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC); rather, they do this for reasons particular to informal international cooperation. For instance, when governments take on leadership roles because they want to bolster their national green industry transition or help national corporate actors learn from green industrialisation elsewhere, then green industry transition is driving leadership. In contrast, informal diplomacy drives leadership when governments assume leadership roles to help them bolster their international presence and strengthen their diplomatic ties. A comparative case study of the leadership of three Nordic countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) within the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) concludes that both approaches contribute to explaining leadership patterns in the CEM. We argue that these dynamics probably also play out in other IIGOs, particularly in those relating to climate politics.