Costituzionalismo ambientale o costituzionalismo climatico? “Tra magia e inganno”

Clearing the Air? “Climate” v. “Environmental” Comparative Constitutional Methodologies, Between Magic and Deceit - This contribution moves from Gunther Frankenberg’s concept of ‘constitutional witchcraft’, which designates the symbolic dimension of constitutional abstractions. It tries to apply Frankenberg’s insights to critique the optimistic mythology surrounding the constitutionalization of environmental issues. The following analysis aims to dissect this misleading narrative while addressing the methodological challenges plaguing comparative environmental studies. The second part of this contribution highlights the confusion arising from conflating terms like ‘environment,’ ‘climate,’ and ‘ecology’ in constitutional discourse and proposes a teleological approach to overcome these ambiguities. Ultimately, it questions whether the ‘greening’ of constitutionalism holds more ‘deceit’ than ‘magic’, drawing on Frankenberg’s caution against the deceptive nature of constitutional mantras.