AgLaw Research colloquia Series | Climate neutrality through green growth? Addressing possible tensions between the European Green Deal and the precautionary principle

The AgLaw Research Group is a research seminar taking place in person and virtually on 23/05/2025 from 17:00-19:00 (CEST Time). On this occasion, we appreciate the participation of Roberto Talenti, Ph.D. candidate of the Agri-food and Environmental Law Research Group from Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna. Roberto's presentation is titled Climate Neutrality Through Green Growth? Addressing possible tensions between the European green deal and the precautionary principle. 

Link for the online participation: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3axrs1P6NWgPP76GaoBMqcl9llBtYRhyW6v-1i0NN4ziE1%40thread.tacv2/1730399220097?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22d97360e3-138d-4b5f-956f-a646c364a01e%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22e94a4db6-bcfe-4719-be28-328ff7196777%22%7d 

Meeting ID: 330 236 073 747 

Passcode: xs5BJ6 

Abstract: 

The European Green Deal (EGD) Communication outlines the EU’s strategy for achieving climate neutrality by 2050, with an emphasis on integrating this objective across EU policies. However, the Communication appears to situate the climate neutrality target within a policy framework grounded in a green growth ontology. This article examines the tension between the EGD Communication’s a priori reliance on green growth and the precautionary principle, a core tenet of EU environmental law. While it does not directly assess green growth’s effectiveness, it acknowledges significant critiques of the paradigm and observes that restricting the climate neutrality objective within a green growth framework is inherently risky. The study seeks to determine the extent to which the European Commission’s formulation of a growth-oriented EGD Communication may have given rise to tensions with the precautionary principle. Through document analysis of the EGD Communication and a review of literature on green growth and the precautionary principle, this paper explores these tensions. It identifies risks inherent in constraining the climate neutrality objective within a green growth framework and highlights how the precautionary principle could offer a pathway for legal research to evaluate such policies. The paper concludes that the EU Commission, by grounding the EGD Communication in green growth assumptions, has acted in contravention of the precautionary imperative. Finally, it outlines possible corrective measures and avenues for future research.