Voice, Time, Space and Knowledge: A Recognition Justice Framework for Evaluating EU Climate Law

This research assesses who is empowered to access justice and protect public climate interests under EU climate law, and the extent to which this empowerment translates into the creation of sites of climate justice. The concept of climate justice, in this research, is particularly influenced by recognition and corrective justice approaches. The analytical climate justice framework sets out different criteria under the categories of voice, time, space and knowledge, to assess the extent to which sites of climate justice are created via EU climate law.

Climate justice is often perceived as an external matter for the EU, relating to its provision of funding and technological support to third countries. However, colonisation and the market foundations of the EU have shaped the current EU legal system, including the European Green Deal. As a result, certain individuals and groups in the EU, for example the Sámi in Northern Europe, face significant obstacles in accessing justice in the EU legal system. Applying a recognition justice framework to EU climate law highlights how climate injustice and misrecognition operates in an EU context.

This research first doctrinally analyses the extent to which EU climate law establishes access to justice by reviewing opportunities in the legislation, via EU Court and via Member States’ courts. It then applies the theoretical framework (voice, time, space and knowledge) to critically assess the extent to which EU climate law establishes sites of climate justice. This research does not presume to speak for marginalised communities, but rather assesses the extent to which counter-hegemonic voices and temporal, spatial and epistemic perspectives are accommodated in the EU legal system.