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A race to net zero: framings and perceptions of (in)justice in the political discourse related to the EU's land use, land use change and forestry regulation
Chair of Forest and Environmental Policy, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Umeå University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Political Science. (Environment and natural resource politics)ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0067-8877
University of Eastern Finland, Department of Geographical and Historical Studies, Joensuu Campus, 80101 Joensuu, Finland.
French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment, INRAE, 24 Chemin de Borde Rouge, Auzeville-Tolosane, France.
2026 (English)In: Forest Policy and Economics, ISSN 1389-9341, E-ISSN 1872-7050, Vol. 185, article id 103748Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The integration of climate targets into EU forest governance is politically contentious, with policy actors pursuing conflicting objectives through justice-based claims of victimisation and marginalisation, often resulting in intractable conflicts. This paper examines how justice is framed and perceived by policy actors in political debates concerning the EU's Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF) Regulation. We answer three research questions: a) what just transition frames are employed by policy actors within the LULUCF discourse, b) who uses these frames, and c) how these frames relate to the official EU LULUCF policy framing. To address these questions, we analyse 101 stakeholder submissions from the EU's Have Your Say initiative and key EU LULUCF policy documents. Integrating frame analysis with environmental justice and political ecology theories, we identify five distinct just transition frames: Forestry first, Forests for climate, EU transition policy pragmatism, Biodiversity and climate first, and Addressing the periphery. Findings reveal significant structural power asymmetries, with economically dominant, industry-aligned frames being privileged in official policy texts. Conversely, ecological concerns, regional interests concerning Europe's periphery, and specific forms of practitioner knowledge remain marginalised or excluded. Such underrepresentation intensifies regional inequalities, ecological vulnerabilities, and socio-economic marginalisation. Across all identified frames, policy actors consistently highlight perceived procedural injustices, including limited transparency and inadequate participation opportunities. The paper concludes that addressing these perceived justice deficits requires recalibrating EU forest governance toward genuine procedural inclusivity, fairer distribution of policy burdens, and explicit recognition of both material and epistemic marginalisation.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2026. Vol. 185, article id 103748
National Category
Political Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-251260DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2026.103748ISI: 001724198400001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105034614919OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-251260DiVA, id: diva2:2047076
Funder
Swedish Research Council Formas, 2021-02145EU, Horizon Europe, 101056907Available from: 2026-03-19 Created: 2026-03-19 Last updated: 2026-07-16Bibliographically approved

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de Boon, Auvikki

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CiteExportLink to record
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