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UK-wide protests over £11bn legal threat to climate goals
23-May-2022 Global Justice Now
UK government urged to exit controversial Energy Charter Treaty, dubbed ‘the fossil fuel industry’s secret weapon’.
The danger of corporate courts to green transition
19-May-2022 Brig Newspaper
Global Justice Stirling is holding a rally against corporate courts in front of Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow.
Europe edging closer to withdrawal from Energy Charter Treaty
17-May-2022 Euractiv
More European Union countries have shown signs of impatience with the ongoing reform of the Energy Charter Treaty, which critics say impedes efforts to phase out fossil fuels, according to leaked diplomatic cables.
Overselling EU trade deals: new study uncovers failures of sustainability impact assessments
11-May-2022 Greenpeace
The European Commission uses flawed and tardy sustainability impact assessments as a fig leaf for environmentally, socially and economically damaging EU trade agreements, according to a new study.
How treaties protecting fossil fuel investors could jeopardize global efforts to save the climate – and cost countries billions
6-May-2022 The Conversation
We estimate that countries would face up to $340 billion in legal and financial risks for canceling fossil fuel projects that are subject to treaties with ISDS clauses.
Climate change expert report warns that ISDS can block climate action
6-Apr-2022 AFTINET
For the first time, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that climate action is being jeopardised by trade agreements which give global corporations the right to sue governments.
Calls to ditch ’ecocide treaty’ after failed reform efforts
24-Mar-2022 EU Observer
Environmentalists and energy experts have been warning for years over an obscure trade deal that could lock Europe into decades of fossil fuel use.
Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) reform: Why it has failed to deliver on the EU’s own objectives
4-Mar-2022 Both Ends
From a climate perspective, the expected reform outcome is a failure. No Contracting Party will end investment protection for fossil fuels in a timeline that is necessary to align with the Paris Agreement.
Trade agreements must be climate-focused, new IPCC report shows
1-Mar-2022 Policy Options
Governments need to repair the incoherence between climate objectives and the emissions-intensive trajectory of the global economy.
An energy investment treaty has been holding Nord Stream 2 hostage
28-Feb-2022 Climate Home News
The German government has been worried about being sued by the fossil fuel companies behind the Russian gas pipeline under the Energy Charter Treaty.
The EU-Mercosur free trade agreement: A critical analysis and an alternative
23-Feb-2022 TNI
The EU-Mercosur trade agreement leads to the destruction of nature, violation of land rights of farmers and Indigenous people and loss of industrial jobs in the Mercosur countries.
A Koched-up NAFTA lawsuit
22-Feb-2022 CCPA
Koch claims that Ontario’s abrupt cancellation of its cap-and-trade system in 2018 violated the NAFTA Chapter 11 minimum standard of treatment and expropriation clauses.
Canada’s Alberta province files trade challenge over scrapped Keystone XL pipeline
10-Feb-2022 Reuters
The Canadian province of Alberta formally initiated a trade challenge to recover its investment in the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which was scrapped in 2021 after the United States cancelled a key permit.
UK, Switzerland accused of undermining EU green treaty reforms
26-Jan-2022 Climate Home News
Campaigners say the UK and Switzerland are defending fossil fuel interests in Energy Charter Treaty modernisation talks to tempt firms to relocate their HQs.
Investor–state disputes in the fossil fuel industry
24-Jan-2022 IISD
The fossil fuel industry is the most litigious industry in the ISDS system by number of cases, accounting for almost 20% of the total known ISDS cases across all sectors.
Dangerous man, dangerous deals
24-Jan-2022 Greenpeace
Why the EU should not strengthen relations with Bolsonaro.
Regional trade agreement burdens global carbon emissions mitigation
24-Jan-2022 Nature
Complete tariff elimination among RCEP members would increase the yearly global CO2 emissions from fuel combustion by about 3.1%, doubling the annual average growth rate of global CO2 emissions in the last decade.
Cop26 targets pushed back under threat of being sued
17-Jan-2022 Capital Monitor
Countries party to the Energy Charter Treaty are under yet more pressure to reform the agreement following the Cop26 climate summit, as they weigh the benefits of climate action against the likelihood of getting sued.
Palm oil attacks? Why EU’s latest sustainability plans risk alienating Indonesia amid free trade talks
12-Jan-2022 Food Navigator Asia
Palm oil industry experts have warned that the European Union’s (EU) latest proposed regulations on deforestation carry major risk of upsetting Indonesia amidst ongoing free-trade negotiations.
Energy Charter Treaty: stalled reform fuels EU fears for climate
21-Dec-2021 Investigate Europe
European governments are losing patience in talks to modernise the controversial Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), according to leaked documents.