Convened by Luís Mah, ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon, Gonzalo Vargas Forero, CIDER - Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios sobre Desarrollo, Faculdad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogota, Colombia, and Jirayudh Sinthuphan, Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

At the end of 2019, the EU launched the Green Deal aiming at decarbonising the economy by 2050. This strategy includes a myriad of new regulatory reforms, industrial policies and financial instruments aiming at EU energy, industry, agriculture and trade sectors. The impact of these changes has also deep implications beyond European borders. Many countries in the Global South will have to adapt their economic sectors to comply with the new net-zero goals if they want to continuing export to Europe and remain competitive. For example, the enactment of new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) seeks to align global trade with climate goals but it imposes a carbon price/tax on selected imports into the EU to mitigate carbon leakage.

While the Green Deal presents opportunities for green investment, technological cooperation and decarbonisation in the Global South, it also raises long-standing questions on inequalities in trade relations, production networks and climate governance. This panel invites papers that critically examine the impact of the EU Green Deal on trade relations with the Global South and its consequences for a just transition. We welcome diverse contributions, including theoretical reflections, empirical case studies, and policy-oriented analyses.