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Can existing international agreements on ‘investment facilitation’ advance sustainable development, climate action, and human rights?
1-Dec-2023 CCSI
Terminating investment treaties and withdrawing advance consent to ISDS would allow governments to clear the path from problematic treaties centered on investment protection and ISDS, which in practice benefit unsustainable investment.
Who knew Queensland’s richest man is a foreign investor?
30-Nov-2023 The Australia Institute
Clive Palmer’s controversial legal strategies challenge Australia’s trade agreements and environmental laws, and have profound implications for global climate action.
Investor-state dispute settlements: a hidden handbrake on climate action
30-Nov-2023 IIED
To achieve the Paris Agreement’s climate goals, states must move away from fossil fuels. But investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) — a system that enables companies to take states to international arbitration — can increase the cost of this transition.
Energy Charter Treaty plans for expansion revealed in recently posted notes
24-Nov-2023 Global Justice Now
Notes from the Energy Charter Treaty Conference reveal plans for the controversial Energy Charter Treaty to expand to more oil-producing countries.
EU, Germany and Denmark sued by oil firm over windfall tax
20-Nov-2023 The Guardian
Officials fear secret courts will block climate action and divert billions into coffers of fossil fuel investors.
India raises concerns over potential carbon taxes in UK FTA talks - sources
17-Nov-2023 Reuters
India is worried about Britain’s possible tax on imports of high-carbon goods like steel and wants a mechanism in their planned free-trade agreement (FTA) to address issues arising from such a measure.
US commerce secretary says closed three ’pillars’ of Indo-Pacific talks
15-Nov-2023 Yahoo
IPEF member countries have agreed on terms of the clean energy pillar and on the anti-corruption chapter.
It’s time to exit ISDS: 200+ labor, environment, and other civil society groups urge Biden to eliminate extreme corporate powers from existing trade pacts
3-Nov-2023 Public Citizen
The groups argue that removing ISDS — which has prioritized corporate rights over those of governments, people, and the planet — is needed to protect policies necessary for a clean energy transition.
UK at risk of lawsuits if Pacific trade deal not amended, warn civil society organisations and academics
25-Oct-2023 Global Justice Now
The UK faces “huge financial risk” of lawsuits if the Pacific trade deal is not amended, warn civil society organisations and academics in a joint letter published today.
A shadowy corner of international law is threatening climate action, UN expert warns
24-Oct-2023 Inside Climate News
An obscure but far-reaching system allowing corporations to sue governments is being “weaponized” by the fossil fuel and mining industries, according to a new UN report, jeopardizing progress in developing nations.
Ireland must not be subject to anti-democratic ‘corporate courts’ exploitation
24-Oct-2023 DiEM25
There is a coordinated move for EU members to withdraw from the dangerous Energy Charter Treaty but Ireland is refusing to act.
Statement: The EU-New Zealand Agreement should not be ratified
23-Oct-2023 Seattle to Brussels Network
Fifty Civil society organizations call on the European Parliament not to ratify the trade agreement with New Zealand.
Government revisits trade clause that allowed Clive Palmer lawsuits
2-Oct-2023 The Saturday Paper
Clive Palmer’s move to sue the government in a secretive international tribunal highlights the need to amend Australia’s trade policy to prevent claims that could hamper emissions reduction efforts.
On track for sustainable trade?
2-Oct-2023 AK Wien
The EU-New Zealand trade agreement from a sustainability perspective.
Climate justice in trade: Environment, rights and the palm oil dispute between Indonesia and the European Union
29-Sep-2023 IIED
Novel clauses would fall short of confronting the more fundamental questions raised by trade agreements that promote large-scale monoculture at the expense of nature and local farming systems.
A system of secret arbitration tribunals is undercutting climate action worldwide
28-Sep-2023 DeSmog
A UN expert calls for ending confidential arbitration agreements in development and trade treaties, which are forcing nations to roll back climate, enviro, human rights protections while owing fossil fuel companies billions in damages.
Energy transition mythbusters: Myth #6
25-Sep-2023 TNI
Investment protection is necessary to encourage energy transition investment.
EU-Mercosur FTA: Mercosur’s response to the EU joint instrument (Sep 2023)
19-Sep-2023
Fossil fuel companies have a secret weapon. Here’s how Britain can help take it away from them
14-Sep-2023 The Guardian
Eleven countries have already pledged to exit the disastrous international charter treaty. We must join them.
Energy transition calls for faster investment treaty reforms
31-Aug-2023 UNCTAD
UNCTAD presents a new toolbox to make international investment agreements actively support the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.