Global climate change represents a critical challenge for international governance, characterized by three defining attributes. First, as a global public good, climate action exhibits non-excludability and non-rivalry, creating collective action dilemmas where nations struggle to equitably distribute mitigation responsibilities. Current nationally determined contributions remain insufficient to meet the 1.5 °C target, with projections indicating potential 2.8 °C warming by 2100. Second, climate change constitutes a “wicked problem” with complex policy interdependencies across energy, trade, and development sectors, generating significant distributional conflicts between economic winners and losers. The energy transition particularly threatens fossil fuel-dependent economies with stranded assets and socioeconomic instability. Third, climate change manifests long-term impacts and implementation uncertainties, as evidenced by fluctuating national commitments and the decadal timelines required for technological solutions. These attributes—transboundary effects, issue complexity, and temporal challenges—collectively exacerbate global governance difficulties, ensuring climate change remains a persistent priority on the international agenda. The interplay of these characteristics underscores the need for innovative governance mechanisms to overcome coordination failures and sustain multilateral cooperation.