Green Transition Laws of the European Union: A New International Legal Tool to Sustain Global Economic Inequality and Developmental Injustice?

Abstract

This study examines the European Union’s Green Deal as an international legal instrument, analysing its potential hegemonic impact on developing and underdeveloped countries. While the Green Deal aims to promote environmental sustainability, its extraterritorial effects raise concerns about justice and the perpetuation of historical and economic inequalities. Framed within critical legal and postcolonial perspectives, the analysis highlights how the Green Deal’s ambitious standards and regulatory frameworks impose disproportionate burdens on countries with limited institutional and financial capacities, perpetuating ‘climate colonialism’. The EU’s reliance on resource extraction from vulnerable regions underscores persistent global inequalities, while initiatives like the Common Ground Taxonomy demonstrate how environmental policies can reinforce economic dominance and marginalise smaller states. Despite its sustainability goals, the Green Deal risks exacerbating developmental injustices by privileging the interests of industrialised economies over equitable global cooperation. The study advocates for reforming the Green Deal through an equity-focused lens, emphasising financial and technological support, reparative mechanisms for historical injustices, and inclusive compliance timelines. By addressing these structural inequalities, the EU can transform its Green Deal into a fair and collaborative model of sustainability. Failure to adopt such reforms risks reducing it to a tool of economic hegemony rather than a framework for collective environmental progress.

Keywords

• European Union Green Deal
• International Law
• Critical Legal Studies
• Neo-Colonialism
• Green Transition

Avrupa Birliği'nin Yeşil Dönüşüm Hukuku: Global Ekonomik ve Gelişimsel Eşitsizliği Sürdürmek İçin Yeni Bir Uluslararası Hukuk Aracı Mı?

Öz

Bu çalışma, Avrupa Birliği'nin Yeşil Mutabakatı'nı uluslararası bir hukuki araç olarak eleştirel bir şekilde incelemekte, gelişmekte olan ve az gelişmiş ülkeler üzerindeki potansiyel hegemonik etkisini analiz etmektedir. Yeşil Mutabakat çevresel sürdürülebilirliği teşvik etmeyi amaçlasa da, ülke dışı etkileri adalet ve tarihsel ve ekonomik eşitsizliklerin sürdürülmesi konusunda endişelere yol açmaktadır. Eleştirel hukuk okulu ve postkolonyal perspektiflerle çerçevelenen bu analiz, Yeşil Mutabakat’ın iddialı standartlarının ve düzenleyici çerçevelerinin, sınırlı kurumsal ve mali kapasiteye sahip ülkelere nasıl orantısız yükler getirebileceğini ve 'iklim sömürgeciliğini' yaratabileceğini tartışmaktadır. AB'nin gelişmemiş veya gelişmekte olan bölgelerden kaynak çıkarılmasına olan bağımlılığı, kalıcı küresel eşitsizliklerin altını çizerken, Ortak Zemin Taksonomisi gibi girişimler, çevre politikalarının ekonomik hakimiyeti nasıl güçlendirebileceğini ve küçük devletleri nasıl marjinalleştirebileceğini göstermektedir. Sürdürülebilirlik hedeflerine rağmen Yeşil Mutabakat, sanayileşmiş ekonomilerin çıkarlarını adil küresel işbirliğine tercih ederek kalkınmaya yönelik adaletsizlikleri artırma riski taşımaktadır. Bu çalışma, Yeşil Anlaşma'nın finansal ve teknolojik destek, tarihsel adaletsizliklere yönelik onarıcı mekanizmalar ve kapsayıcı uyum zaman çizelgelerini vurgulayan eşitlik odaklı bir mercekle yeniden düzenlenmesini savunmaktadır. AB, bu yapısal eşitsizlikleri ele alarak Yeşil Mutabakatını adil ve işbirliğine dayalı bir sürdürülebilirlik modeline dönüştürebilir. Bu tür reformların benimsenmemesi, anlaşmayı kolektif çevresel ilerleme için bir çerçeve olmaktan ziyade ekonomik ve hukuki bir hegemonya aracına indirgeme riski taşır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Avrupa Birliği Yeşil Mutabakatı
• Uluslararası Hukuk
• Eleştirel Hukuk Çalışmaları
• Takosonomi
• Yeşil Dönüşüm

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