The paper analyses the social dimension of the ecological transition within the European Union legal framework, focusing on the two main financial instruments designed to mitigate its social costs: the Just Transition Fund (Regulation EU 2021/1056) and the Social Climate Fund (Regulation EU 2023/955). After tracing the emergence of the just transition principle in international and European law — from the North American trade union movement to the European Green Deal and the Fit for 55% package — the study examines the objectives, conditionality mechanisms and multilevel governance models of the two Funds, with particular attention to the Italian Just Transition Fund National Programme and to the Social Climate Plans. The analysis highlights several critical issues: the vagueness in the definition of beneficiaries, the static conception of energy vulnerability, and the inadequacy of participatory guarantees, which risk reducing stakeholder involvement to a merely symbolic device. The chapter concludes that the redistributive ambition of these new instruments may result in a form of social washing, undermining the link between environmental sustainability and social justice.
Il contributo analizza la dimensione sociale della transizione ecologica nell'ordinamento dell'Unione europea, esaminando i due principali strumenti finanziari istituiti per mitigarne i costi sociali: il Fondo per la transizione giusta (Reg. UE 2021/1056) e il Fondo sociale per il clima (Reg. UE 2023/955). Dopo aver ricostruito l'emersione del principio di just transition nel quadro normativo internazionale ed europeo, dal movimento sindacale nordamericano fino al Green Deal e al pacchetto Fit for 55%, lo studio esamina obiettivi, meccanismi di condizionalità e modelli di governance multilivello dei due Fondi, con particolare attenzione al Programma Nazionale Just Transition Fund Italia e ai Piani sociali per il clima. L'indagine evidenzia alcuni profili critici: l'indeterminatezza nella definizione dei beneficiari, la visione statica della vulnerabilità energetica e l'insufficienza delle garanzie partecipative, che rischiano di ridurre il coinvolgimento degli stakeholders a un istituto meramente simbolico. Ne emerge il rischio che l'ambizione redistributiva dei nuovi strumenti si traduca in una forma di social washing, vanificando il nesso tra sostenibilità ambientale e giustizia sociale.
La dimensione sociale della transizione ecologica: promesse e limiti del fondo sociale per il clima e il fondo per la transizione giusta
Annamaria Bonomo
2026-01-01
Abstract
The paper analyses the social dimension of the ecological transition within the European Union legal framework, focusing on the two main financial instruments designed to mitigate its social costs: the Just Transition Fund (Regulation EU 2021/1056) and the Social Climate Fund (Regulation EU 2023/955). After tracing the emergence of the just transition principle in international and European law — from the North American trade union movement to the European Green Deal and the Fit for 55% package — the study examines the objectives, conditionality mechanisms and multilevel governance models of the two Funds, with particular attention to the Italian Just Transition Fund National Programme and to the Social Climate Plans. The analysis highlights several critical issues: the vagueness in the definition of beneficiaries, the static conception of energy vulnerability, and the inadequacy of participatory guarantees, which risk reducing stakeholder involvement to a merely symbolic device. The chapter concludes that the redistributive ambition of these new instruments may result in a form of social washing, undermining the link between environmental sustainability and social justice.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
