The transition to carbon neutrality is not only an environmental imperative for the European Union, but also a challenge requiring deep systemic transformations, which go beyond technological innovation and economic restructuring. It touches on social practices, institutional arrangements and normative frameworks, while requiring to ensure a fair, socially cohesive and territorially sensitive change that leaves no one behind. Such an objective is enshrined in the European Green Deal.

The study "Fair transition to climate neutrality: A Scoping Study" by Edoardo Croci and Zuzana Harmáčková, completed in May 2025, was prepared for the European Commission. Its main objective is identify emerging research directions and knowledge gaps, which could inform future funding priorities under the European Partnership for Social Transformations and Resilience (STR) of Horizon Europe. The STR partnership, planned to be launched in 2027, aims to strengthen resilience, fairness, inclusiveness and social cohesion in response to major societal challenges, including climate change.

Study focuses on seven key thematic areas relevant to a just transition to carbon neutrality:

• The concept of justice, informed by diverse economic, political and cultural traditions.
• Attitudes, values and lifestyle, as drivers or obstacles to systemic change.
• Trust and legitimacy, which are the basis for effective policy-making and democratic governance.
• Climate policy tools and frameworks, with regard to their social impacts.
• Systems approaches to design, for the integration of social sciences and humanities into innovation processes.
• Democratizing the transition, focused on participatory mechanisms and social dialogue.
• Green-digital connection, exploring the synergies and tensions between technological and ecological transformations.

The first part of the study addresses the concept of justice, climate policy instruments, systems approaches to design and the green-digital nexus. The second part analyses attitudes, values and lifestyles, trust and legitimacy, and the democratisation of the transition.

Key challenges and knowledge gaps

In the area concept of justice Although academic research and projects acknowledge its multidimensionality (distributional, procedural, intergenerational, territorial aspects), many projects avoid addressing the long-term causes of exclusion, such as historical injustices or uneven development paths. climate policy instruments and frameworks There is a trend towards policies that reduce emissions while also taking into account their wider impacts on households, workers and regions. However, relatively few projects provide insights into how different social groups experience the impacts of these instruments, or how compensation mechanisms are designed and implemented. Public debate on distributional effects and communication of benefits remains underdeveloped. Systems approaches to design are increasingly being used to support collaboration and complexity management. However, few projects invest in new professional profiles, learning pathways or public sector capacities that would enable their wider adoption. In the area of green-digital connection projects have started to address the risks of unequal access to infrastructure, digital tools and skills. However, the environmental impacts of digitalisation (e.g. energy and material consumption) are rarely assessed and coordination between digital and green agendas often remains limited.

Regarding attitudes, values and lifestyle, there is a significant “values-action gap” where people hold pro-sustainable values but do not act on them due to systemic constraints. Structural and systemic barriers persist, such as “lock-in” effects (e.g., car-dependent urban planning) and economic models that prioritize growth over sufficiency. There is a lack of understanding of how culture, worldviews, and emotions influence the transition to sustainability, as well as how to incorporate values such as care and empathy into everyday life. In the field of trust and legitimacy Institutional mistrust remains a significant barrier, often linked to historical inequalities and lack of policy coherence. The spread of misinformation and a lack of understanding of the role of media and communication in building trust also pose major challenges. Participatory governance models are essential, but they often suffer from power imbalances and symbolic inclusion without real impact. As for democratizing the green transition, participatory processes are often superficial and insufficiently inclusive of marginalized groups. Economic justice and equitable access to green innovation remain unequal, with the risk that green growth will exacerbate existing inequalities. There are also structural power and political barriers that hinder transformative change.

Cross-cutting challenges and future priorities

Across all topics, it is a cross-cutting challenge absence of common methods for impact assessment, which would systematically capture the impacts of policies on various social, environmental and economic dimensions. It is also important strengthening institutional capacities and expanding access to knowledge on innovative approaches and technologies. Priority research areas for the future SRIA include geopolitical shifts and access to resources, public trust and policy resilience, asymmetric industrial and territorial impacts, the role of artificial intelligence and digital tools, new approaches to financing, improving coordination across levels of governance, tools for local implementation, integrated impact assessment, spatial justice and institutional capacity and adaptation.

In conclusion, a successful and just transition to carbon neutrality requires a comprehensive, integrated and democratic approach. Filling the identified knowledge gaps and addressing the remaining challenges is essential to strengthen Europe's transformation capacity and ensure that the transition is truly just for all. JRi

Glossary of key terms

• Adaptive Governance: Flexible governance structures that can learn and adapt to changing challenges and uncertainties, while maintaining public trust.
• Public Acceptability: The extent to which the public agrees with or supports policies, especially environmental ones, often conditioned by perceptions of fairness and benefits.
• Power Asymmetries: Unequal distribution of power and influence among different stakeholders, which can lead to the exclusion of marginalized voices from decision-making processes.
• Behavioral Nudges: Subtle interventions that influence people's decision-making and behavior without restricting their freedom of choice, often used to support sustainable choices.
• CORDIS (Community Research and Development Information Service): A European Commission database that provides information on all EU-funded research and development projects.
• Decarbonisation: The process of reducing carbon emissions, particularly carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere by reducing the consumption of fossil fuels.
• Democratisation of the Green Transition: The process of ensuring that policies and decisions related to the green transition are inclusive, participatory and equitable, with the active involvement of various societal actors.
• Disinformation/Misinformation: False or misleading information, spread intentionally (disinformation) or unintentionally (misinformation), that undermines trust and hinders effective climate action.
• Digital Divide: The difference in access to digital technologies and digital literacy between different population groups, which can exacerbate inequalities.
• Distributive Justice: Fair distribution of the benefits and costs of transformation policies among different groups and territories.
• Trust: Belief in the reliability, truthfulness, and ability of institutions, science, and individuals, which is crucial for the adoption and implementation of policies.
• European Green Deal: A set of policy initiatives by the European Commission with the main objective of making Europe climate neutral by 2050.
• Horizon 2020 / Horizon Europe: European Union Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation.
• Inclusiveness: Ensuring that all groups in society, especially the vulnerable and marginalized, are involved and that their needs and perspectives are taken into account in transformation processes.
• Climate Neutrality: Achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions, either by reducing them or offsetting them.
• Legitimacy: The perception of fairness, transparency, and effectiveness of governance processes and policies, which is essential for their public support and acceptance.
• Intergenerational Equity: Ensuring a fair distribution of the benefits and costs of environmental and social decisions between current and future generations.
• Value-Action Gap: The gap between professed values (e.g. pro-environmental) and actual behavior, often caused by systemic or structural barriers.
• Circular Economy: An economic model that focuses on reducing waste and maximizing resource use through the reuse, recycling, and recovery of materials.
• Participatory Governance: A governance approach that actively involves citizens, civil society and stakeholders in decision-making processes, thereby increasing legitimacy and trust.
• Political Economy: The study of the connection between politics, economics, and society, often with a critical perspective on the distribution of power and wealth.
• Procedural Justice: Fairness and transparency of decision-making processes, including access to information and the ability to influence outcomes.
• Reparative Justice: An approach that focuses on redressing historical and structural injustices, especially against marginalized communities.
• Scopus: Bibliographic database of abstracts and citations of peer-reviewed literature, including scientific journals, books, and conference proceedings.
• Social Transformations: Deep and widespread changes in social practices, institutional arrangements and normative frameworks.
• Just Transition: Ensuring that the transition to a more sustainable and climate-neutral economy is fair for all, especially for workers and communities who are most affected.
• Recognition Justice: Recognition and respect for diverse worldviews, cultural backgrounds and knowledge systems, especially those of marginalized communities.
• Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA): A document that sets out research and innovation priority areas for partnerships under EU programmes such as Horizon Europe.
• Systemic Design: A comprehensive approach to design that focuses on understanding and intervening in entire systems (e.g. social, economic, environmental) to achieve sustainable transformations.
• Territorial Justice: Fair distribution of benefits and costs within geographical areas, taking into account regional disparities and local needs.
• Transformative Research: Research that not only seeks to gain new knowledge about social transformations, but also actively contributes to their implementation.
• Carbon Pricing: Mechanisms such as carbon taxes or emissions trading schemes that attach a financial price to carbon emissions in order to incentivize their reduction.
• Green-Digital Nexus: The connection and interaction between digital technologies and environmental sustainability, including both synergies and tensions.