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climate

When free trade is not free
21-Dec-2021 Mail & Guardian
If the states of the world take seriously their own rhetorical commitments to climate change mitigation, job creation, and sustainable development, they must reject the free trade paradigm.
Investment governance in Africa to support climate resilience and decarbonization
13-Dec-2021 Afronomics Law
African nations should not be expected to take the lead in addressing a climate emergency they did not create. The priority for Africa is to receive support and investment to build resilience and adapt to climate impacts.
Greenpeace urges Canada to drop trade deal to save the Amazon
1-Dec-2021 National Observer
An environmental group is pleading with the Canadian government to reject a controversial trade deal it says would further fuel deforestation in the Amazon in a new letter addressed to Canada’s minister of foreign affairs.
The World Bank can’t be trusted to stand up to big fossil fuel companies
24-Nov-2021 Counter Punch
Extractive companies are the most frequent users of the investor-state dispute settlement system (ISDS), making up 29 percent of all ICSID claims in fiscal year 2021.
Keystone pipeline developers seek $15 billion from US for cancellation
23-Nov-2021 BNN
Developers of Keystone XL are seeking to recoup more than $15 billion in damages connected to President Joe Biden’s decision to yank a permit for the border-crossing oil pipeline even after construction began.
Governments risk ’trillions’ in fossil fuel climate litigation
16-Nov-2021 France 24
Governments which enact climate legislation risk being sued for trillions of dollars by fossil fuel companies seeking compensation for lost revenue and stranded assets.
Campaign win: Australia cuts ties with Energy Charter Treaty (ECT)
8-Nov-2021 AFTINET
In a significant step forward in the campaign against Investor-State Dispute Settlements (ISDS), Australia has announced its withdrawal from its signatory status to the Energy Charter Treaty.
Secretive court system poses threat to Paris climate deal, says whistleblower
4-Nov-2021 The Guardian
Treaty allows energy corporations to sue governments for billions over policies that could hurt their profits.
Missing from the climate talks: Corporate powers to sue governments over extractives policies
2-Nov-2021 Inequality.org
Allowing oil, mining, and gas companies to continue to file expensive lawsuits over environmental regulations could undermine whatever agreements might be reached in the COP26 in Glasgow.
Big Coal tapping obscure treaty could chill green revolution
29-Oct-2021 Bloomberg
Coal plant owners are using this little-known mechanism to try and recoup billions from governments who are forcing them to shut down polluting plants
Fossil fuel companies claiming 18bn against government climate action in secret courts
28-Oct-2021 Global Justice Now
Courts allow big polluters to sue governments into “a state of climate paralysis”, campaigners say.
Reality check on curbing climate change — trade agreements
28-Oct-2021 The Nelson Daily
Rules accepted under various trade and investment agreements often benefit destructive, extractive industries to the detriment of national and international climate goals and ambitions.
UK trade deals should prioritise economic growth over environmental protections - leaked govt document
15-Oct-2021 Sky
The document says it can be very difficult to trade with some countries that do not necessarily support saving the environment but the government says ministers are not considering the advice.
UK secretly dropped climate promises for trade deal with Australia, leaked emails show
8-Sep-2021 The Independent
Australia pressured the UK not to include binding clauses on the Paris Agreement.
Companies cannot use ECT to sue governments for climate progress, top court says
2-Sep-2021 Client Earth
Environmental organisations have hailed a court decision that could mean the end of a little-known legal mechanism that poses a massive threat to climate action.
Harris: Vietnam to reduce ag tariffs, participate in climate-smart ag
27-Aug-2021 The Fence
Vice President Harris announced in Vietnam today that Vietnam has agreed to cut its import duties on corn, wheat and pork products.
One big, expensive, avoidable reason why governments won’t take action on climate change
23-Aug-2021 Rabble.ca
As governments try to phase out coal and leave fossil fuels in the ground, lawsuits from industry investors are starting to pile up around them.
Death by a thousand treaties
20-Aug-2021 The Ecologist
Governments must urgently terminate all international investment treaties in force, in particular the Energy Charter Treaty, and stop negotiating new ones.
NGOs urge Slovenia’s minister to propose EU exit Energy Charter Treaty
19-Aug-2021 Euractiv
Slovenian environmental NGOs have called on infrastructure minister Jernej Vrtovec to use the country’s EU presidency to propose a political discussion on the bloc exiting the Energy Charter Treaty.
Blockading global Green New Deals
19-Aug-2021 The Ecologist
Tackling trade and investment agreements must be an essential step in achieving justice-oriented action on climate change, health inequities and economic injustice.