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Honduran government repeals ZEDEs law amid warnings of of free trade agreement rights and arbitration
2-May-2022 Peace Brigades International Canada
The ZEDEs are free from import and export taxes, but could set up their own internal forms of government, as well as courts, security forces, schools and even social security systems.
AfCFTA: Nasarawa marks 270,000 hectres for commercial agriculture
4-Sep-2021 farmlandgrab.org
The Nasarawa State government has announced that it has marked over 270,000 hectres of land for the purpose of purely commercial agriculture to earn foreign exchange for the state through the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
White farmer enlists US federal court in enforcing US$277m arbitral award against Zimbabwe
28-Jul-2021 Bulawayo
Bernhard von Pezold and his family have enlisted the help of a US federal court in Washington DC in enforcing a US$277 million arbitral award against Zimbabwe.
Rethinking investment law from the ground up: extractivism, human rights, and investment treaties
9-Apr-2021 IISD
For many people affected by resource extraction, it is the prevailing legal regime that dis-embeds and disintegrates, because investment treaties can protect ventures that upend their lives with little scope for voice or redress.
Artists and academics in Montréal oppose Canada-Israel free trade agreement in stand for Palestinian rights
9-Jan-2021 BDS Movement
More than 150 artists and academics and over 20 trade unions, cultural organizations, student groups and indigenous collectives in Montréal are calling on the Canadian government to cancel the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement.
Zimbabwe is offering land back to BIPPAs and black farmers. Betrayal or the law? Here are the facts
2-Sep-2020 The Zimbabwe Mail
There are only two types of farmers that can be compensated for both land and improvements on farms. On of them is farmers whose land was protected by Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreements.
Zimbabwe to pay white farmers $3.5 billion over Mugabe land reforms
5-Aug-2020 The East African
Some of the dispossessed farmers were from countries such as Germany, Netherlands and Switzerland whose properties were protected by investment treaties between Harare and the Western countries.
The remarkable life and legacy of indigenous leader Berta Cáceras
22-Jun-2020 Salon
Honduran environmental activist Berta Cáceres was a strong voice against free trade and fought for the Lenca people’s right to live on their sacred land.
US-Kenya FTA and the rights to land and food
10-May-2020 IATP
The US Trade Representative has announced plans to negotiate a free-trade agreement with Kenya. This would be the first free-trade agreement the US has negotiated with an African nation.
Hungary held liable for expropriating the investment of a British investor and ordered to pay EUR 7 million in compensation for damages
27-Mar-2020 IISD
Magyar and Inicia filed for arbitration against Hungary claiming expropriation of their leasehold rights to the land, following an agricultural sector reform to promote family farms over farming companies.
Zimbabwe offers land as compensation for 800 seized farms
13-Mar-2020 Reuters
The dispossessed farmers covered in the land compensation scheme are citizens of countries that have bilateral investment agreements with Zimbabwe.
S. Korea wins int’l arbitration against Korean-American in property dispute
1-Oct-2019 Yonhap
The South Korean government has won an international arbitration in a suit a Korean-American individual filed over expropriation of land in a redevelopment project.
EU vs. Indonesia: Is it really a trade war?
17-Aug-2019 DW
The European Union has slapped countervailing tariffs on imports of subsidized biodiesel from Indonesia. The southeast Asian country has threatened to retaliate but experts say counter tariffs could be self-destructive.
RCEP trade deal will intensify land grabbing in Asia
12-Jul-2019 GRAIN
The RCEP mega-trade agreement if adopted will change how governments decide on rights to land and who has access to it. Therefore, it has the potential to increase land grabbing across Asia – already a huge problem in this region.
New report exposes mining companies suing Latin American countries where communities defend land and environment
2-May-2019 Mining Watch
We analyzed 38 multi-million dollar claims brought by the mining industry using ISDS and other investment protection laws; in over half, communities are fighting to protect Indigenous territory, water, and more.
The Belt and Road Initiative: Chinese agribusiness going global
29-Mar-2019 GRAIN
The Belt and Road Initiative provides a framework for Chinese investment to enhance existing infrastructure as well as build new production sites and trade routes to better connect China with the rest of the world.
Saving Japan’s seed heritage from “free trade”
7-Mar-2019 Local Futures
Former Japanese minister Yamada joined forces with 150 lawyers that have challenged as unconstitutional both the TPP agreement and the government’s decision to abolish the seed protection law.
Lessons from Aotearoa: The indigenous “exception” clause in free trade agreements
26-Feb-2019 Yellowhead Institute
Exception clauses amount to little more than tokenism, and short-change our full rights to determine trade relationships on our land and oceanic territories.
Corporate sector in China’s Belt & Road: Impact on people’s access to land and water
12-Feb-2019 People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty
China has been receiving flak for its conditional investments and loans that are resulting in land and resource grabbing in Asia and Africa.
Maldives’s debt to China creates difficulties for Solih
22-Jan-2019 The Siasat Daily
The Maldives incurred huge debts and the amount owed to China is still being assessed given that the pitfalls of China’s influence over the Maldivian economy.