Editorial: Unfolding Just Green Transitions in the Western Balkan Region

Just Green Transitions (JGT) have become a central pillar of the European Union’s response to climate change, seeking to reconcile its environmental ambition with social and spatial justice. While extensively debated within Member States, less attention has been paid to how this policy paradigm unfolds in candidate and neighbouring countries. This editorial introduces a thematic issue that critically examines the translation of JGT principles into governance arrangements, instruments and practices in the Western Balkan Region, a particularly fertile context in which to explore opportunities, tensions and limits. It situates the thematic issue within broader debates on Europeanisation, spatial justice, and sustainability transitions, outlining the conceptual framework and key challenges shaping JGT in the region. It argues that understanding how green transitions are negotiated under conditions of structural disadvantage and political fragmentation is essential to assessing whether Europe’s green transition can also be just beyond the EU borders.