Green for Whom? Analysing the European Green Deal and Sustainable Finance through a Wide-Angle Lens
Green finance pledges abound. They are politically considered a cornerstone of a low-carbon future. Yet for every announcement of net-zero commitment, there is a press report revealing how ostensibly green funds sustain the fossil fuel industry or damage biodiversity and livelihoods across the globe. Claire’s project, then, studies how current climate regulation (especially the European Green Deal) directs financial resources towards activities deemed sustainable, according to which criteria, and with which distributive effects. This requires clarifying how legal regimes shape green finance and energy value chains, and co-constitute value through regulatory structures. The project homes in on cases of green bonds fueling mineral extraction and land use conversion in Latin America. It examines the relevant legal provisions and institutional arrangements, with particular attention to the epistemic and normative power at play in the design and implementation of climate policy, both within and beyond EU borders. By de-centering the European perspective, the project illuminates the promise and pitfalls of EU green finance regulation. The research seeks to help advance both the scholarly and the public conversations on the topic, with the aim of fostering a more just ecological transition.
