Aligning EU's Climate Policies with Global South Development Pathways

March 31, 2026

The European Union’s climate and industrial policies increasingly shape global trade and development pathways, particularly for countries like India. While EU regulations aim to promote decarbonisation, they can impose compliance costs, restrict policy space, and affect industrial growth in developing countries. This carries strategic implications for the EU: most future emissions growth will occur in developing countries, and global decarbonisation will depend on their ability to industrialise using low carbon technologies. If EU policies are perceived as restricting development opportunities, they risk weakening international cooperation, generating geopolitical tensions, and reducing EU’s influence in shaping the global clean economy.

This brief recommends aligning EU climate policies with Global South development pathways through finance, technology transfer, impact assessments, and deeper sectoral cooperation to support low carbon industrialisation, and subsequently global decarbonisation.

Contact:

Avantika Goswami
avantika.goswami@cseindia.org

Lalit Chennamaneni
chennamaneni@germanwatch.org