Since its launch in 2019, the European Green Deal has proven to be an exceptional tool that boosted EU’s commitment to cut its emissions and become the first climate-neutral continent in the world. Yet, these efforts will start to sound like empty promises if the EU does not begin assessing the international implications of its own transition and develops policies that guarantee a fair distribution of its costs between Europe and its partner countries. If not planned and implemented coherently, the European Green transition will lead to environmentally and socially harmful impacts on the Global South and increase inequality and poverty instead of eliminating them.

The EU needs to develop a Global Just Transition strategy with a Global Green Deal at its core. It should ensure policy coherence for development and accelerate the Global North’s just transition to a green economy while supporting, incentivising, and facilitating partner countries to move in the same direction. If we fail to do this, the achievement of the sustainable development goals by 2030 will remain a distant ambition.