The “Greening” of Empire: The European Green Deal as the EU first agenda

Diana Vela Almeida; Vijay Kolinjivadi; Tomaso Ferrando; Brototi Roy; Héctor Herrera; Marcela Vecchione Gonçalves; Gert Van Hecken

doi:10.1016/j.polgeo.2023.102925

The “Greening” of Empire: The European Green Deal as the EU first agenda

Diana Vela Almeida^*, Vijay Kolinjivadi, Tomaso Ferrando, Brototi Roy, Héctor Herrera, Marcela Vecchione Gonçalves, Gert Van Hecken

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The recent past has seen the proposal of multiple ‘Green New Deals’ across geographies as a means to fight against the climate crisis and ecological breakdown. Of these, the European Green Deal- EGD represents the world's first public commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. Because the EGD plans to “transform the EU,” in this paper we examine how it fits within a historical continuum of colonial and neo-colonial relations. We argue that the EGD is the latest discursive strategy for the ‘greening' of empire through four registers: (1) turning ecological crises into profitable opportunities; (2) portraying the EU as a ‘moral’ intervener; (3) building on a ‘green' “will to improve”; and (4) securitizing and consolidating the empire. We find how the EU acts in key policy arenas of diplomacy, trade and investment leading to the ‘greening' of the empire that ensures its continued economic and political leadership while fundamentally maintaining a status quo. We conclude with some reflections on the role of the EU to cede place to other possibilities of building anti-colonial ecologies.

Original language	English
Article number	102925
Number of pages	10
Journal	Political Geography
Volume	105
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2023.102925
Publication status	Published - Aug 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The EGD was presented in 2019 as the European Union's hallmark for a comprehensive strategic package to prevent the planet from “being polluted and destroyed” ( EC, 2019a : 2). The EGD proposal was designed by a team led by Frans Timmersmans as Executive Vice President of the EC for the EGD. It was presented as a communication to the European Parliament and adopted as a Joint Resolution by majority on January 15, 2020. ( European Parliament Press Release, 2020 ). The Deal was supported by the parliamentary coalitions comprised of the center-right and majority party European People's Party (EPP), the center-left and second majority party Socialists and Democrats (S&D), the center pro-European with the third majority party: Renew, and the progressive forces coalition Greens/EFA ( Legislative Observatory of the European Parliament, 2020 ). Contrary to other climate initiatives, parliamentarians from The Left did not support the Deal because of their criticism of carbon policies being reliant on market mechanisms. On the other side of the ideological spectrum, the European Conservatives and Reformists Group coalition mobilized against the EGD because of the possible implications on jobs, businesses and farms ( Stegrud, 2020 ). One of the most contested aspects of the proposal revolved around establishing binding national targets in future energy legislation, which received a narrow majority of 51% of members supporting the targets and exposing a divide between conservative and progressive camps (Europe Jacqes Delors, Notre Europe Jacqes Delors Notre Europe Vote Watch Europe, 2021 ).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors

Keywords

Climate change
Climate neutrality
Europe
European green deal
Green transition

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Cite this

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title = "The “Greening” of Empire: The European Green Deal as the EU first agenda",

abstract = "The recent past has seen the proposal of multiple {\textquoteleft}Green New Deals{\textquoteright} across geographies as a means to fight against the climate crisis and ecological breakdown. Of these, the European Green Deal- EGD represents the world's first public commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. Because the EGD plans to “transform the EU,” in this paper we examine how it fits within a historical continuum of colonial and neo-colonial relations. We argue that the EGD is the latest discursive strategy for the {\textquoteleft}greening' of empire through four registers: (1) turning ecological crises into profitable opportunities; (2) portraying the EU as a {\textquoteleft}moral{\textquoteright} intervener; (3) building on a {\textquoteleft}green' “will to improve”; and (4) securitizing and consolidating the empire. We find how the EU acts in key policy arenas of diplomacy, trade and investment leading to the {\textquoteleft}greening' of the empire that ensures its continued economic and political leadership while fundamentally maintaining a status quo. We conclude with some reflections on the role of the EU to cede place to other possibilities of building anti-colonial ecologies.",

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note = "Funding Information: The EGD was presented in 2019 as the European Union's hallmark for a comprehensive strategic package to prevent the planet from “being polluted and destroyed” ( EC, 2019a : 2). The EGD proposal was designed by a team led by Frans Timmersmans as Executive Vice President of the EC for the EGD. It was presented as a communication to the European Parliament and adopted as a Joint Resolution by majority on January 15, 2020. ( European Parliament Press Release, 2020 ). The Deal was supported by the parliamentary coalitions comprised of the center-right and majority party European People's Party (EPP), the center-left and second majority party Socialists and Democrats (S&D), the center pro-European with the third majority party: Renew, and the progressive forces coalition Greens/EFA ( Legislative Observatory of the European Parliament, 2020 ). Contrary to other climate initiatives, parliamentarians from The Left did not support the Deal because of their criticism of carbon policies being reliant on market mechanisms. On the other side of the ideological spectrum, the European Conservatives and Reformists Group coalition mobilized against the EGD because of the possible implications on jobs, businesses and farms ( Stegrud, 2020 ). One of the most contested aspects of the proposal revolved around establishing binding national targets in future energy legislation, which received a narrow majority of 51% of members supporting the targets and exposing a divide between conservative and progressive camps (Europe Jacqes Delors, Notre Europe Jacqes Delors Notre Europe Vote Watch Europe, 2021 ). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors",

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The “Greening” of Empire: The European Green Deal as the EU first agenda

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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