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ECT

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.
Kazakhstan would ‘welcome’ new arbitration in Stati dispute
24-Aug-2021 Emerging Europe
Kazakhstan has welcomed what it calls an opportunity for an independent arbitral tribunal to carry out “a free and fair review of the Statis’ fraud”.
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.
The Irish Spanish Solar sues Spain in the ICSID for the cut in premiums to renewables
9-Aug-2021 Market Research Telecast
Spanish Solar demands compensation from the Spanish Government for having cut the premiums for the use of energy once the investments have been made.
Ex-Yukos unit wins new $5 billion court judgement against Russia
30-Jul-2021 Bloomberg
The Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that Russia illegally expropriated loans provided by Yukos Capital Sarl to its former parent company.
Outrage as Italy faces multimillion pound damages to UK oil firm
26-Jul-2021 The Guardian
Secretive tribunals allow fossil fuel companies to sue governments for passing laws to protect environment.
Leaked diplomatic cables show ‘limited progress’ in Energy Charter Treaty reform talks
7-Jul-2021 Euractiv
Little progress has been made to modernise a controversial agreement on energy investments that activists warn could derail decarbonisation efforts in Europe and across the globe, according to leaked documents.
More than 400 civil society organisations say: Leave the ECT by COP26
6-Jul-2021 S2B Network
More than 400 are calling on political leaders across all European countries to prioritise climate policies, to stick to their climate commitments, and therefore to initiate withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty by COP26.
Nigerian govt asked not to ascent to Energy Charter Treaty
23-Jun-2021 Leadership
Nigerian labour unions and civil society organizations have urged the government not to assent to the ECT, explaining that the Treaty contains provisions for an Investor-State Dispute System (ISDS), which accords investors obscene privileges.
We need to rethink investment treaties to ensure a rapid and just energy transition
22-Apr-2021 IIED
It’s time to reconsider investor-state dispute settlement; inaction risks rising costs of shifting from fossil fuels to green alternatives.
Stop the Energy Charter Treaty
21-Apr-2021 Friends of the Earth Europe
This obscure treaty from the 1990s grants sweeping rights and protections to big energy investors – mainly fossil fuel companies.
Energy Charter Treaty strikes again as Uniper sues Netherlands over coal phase-out
19-Apr-2021 Euractiv
German energy company Uniper has confirmed its intention to sue the Dutch government over the country’s planned coal phase-out.
Oil companies don’t deserve reparations for fossil fuel bans. They’ll still want them
19-Apr-2021 The Guardian
Energy conglomerates have recourse to special courts and legal regimes that they helped design – and they won’t go down without a fight.
Ascent Resources starts arbitration process against Slovenia, claims over €100mn damages
24-Mar-2021 Total Slovenia News
The British company pursues its investment treaty claim under the UK-Slovenia bilateral investment treaty and the Energy Charter Treaty.
“Super-protections” for corporations
17-Mar-2021 SOMO
How investment treaties and investor-to-state dispute settlement grant foreign investors greater rights than Dutch and EU law.
Shell’s legal weapon to threaten a just energy future
11-Mar-2021 Future Beyond Shell
To realise a future beyond fossil fuels, it is imperative to look at how to disentangle the legal shackles that enable companies to frustrate climate policy and shift the burden of their stranded assets onto the shoulders of taxpayers through arbitration claims.
Germany to pay nuclear operators 2.6 billion euros for plant closures
6-Mar-2021 Reuters
Vattenfall will get 1.606 billion euros and agreed to end pursuing a separate damages claim in the World Bank’s ICSID arbitration tribunal.
Mustaqeem de Gama, South African Mission in Geneva: “It is a bad idea for any African country to consider signing the Energy Charter Treaty”
23-Feb-2021 Investigate Europe
Joining the Energy Charter Treaty is not in the public interest, according to South Africa’s government. It has also cancelled other agreements that allowed foreign investors to sue their state. This has not stopped investors from coming, says Mustaqeem de Gama.
Take action to end the climate-killing Energy Charter Treaty
23-Feb-2021 CEO
Sign the petition to pull out of the Energy Charter Treaty and stop its expansion to other countries!