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Countries serious about climate change should leave the Energy Charter Treaty, says former ECT official
3-Jul-2020 bilaterals.org
Interview with Yamina Saheb, former head of unit in the Energy Charter Treaty Secretariat .
New NAFTA trade deal deepens oil and gas dependency during climate crisis
1-Jul-2020 Desmog
The deal provides loopholes for oil, gas, and mining companies to operate across borders, and paves the way for US companies to export even more fracked natural gas across the border into Mexico.
Planned EU trade deal with Mercosur threatens climate, environmental protection and human rights
29-Jun-2020 CIDSE
The agreement could have serious ecological and human rights repercussions, new study warns.
The environmental bias of trade policy
5-Jun-2020 Berkeley Haas
Most countries have implicitly created a carbon subsidy in trade policy. Using trade policy negotiations to decrease this environmental bias of trade policy could help address climate change.
Anchoring climate and environmental protection in EU trade agreements
4-Jun-2020 Power Shift
How trade agreements could contribute to a more sustainable world economy.
Companies sue states for ­ climate-protection measures
4-Jun-2020 D+C
On the basis of the Energy Charter Treaty, companies are suing countries for damages when the latter decide to phase out or limit the use of fossil fuels.
The true cost of the EU-Mercosur trade deal
26-May-2020 Friends of the Earth Europe
The EU-Mercosur trade deal comes at a tremendous expense for people and the planet. Dire consequences are looming both on regional and global levels.
Coal generator uses investment treaty to fight Netherlands coal phaseout
22-May-2020 Climate Change News
Uniper is using a controversial investor dispute system to claim up to €1 billion compensation for being forced to close a coal power station early.
Farmers urge UK government to protect food standards in post-Brexit trade bill
22-May-2020 The Guardian
Union and consumer groups warn post-Brexit trade policy must hold food imports to same standards as UK.
The unknown climate-killer deal we’ll have to tackle next
18-May-2020 Friends of the Earth Europe
The Energy Charter Treaty takes an axe to climate action.
Risky business: Uniper’s potential investor-state dispute against the Dutch coal ban
18-Mar-2020 EJIL: Talk!
While policies aiming to phase out coal are necessary to tackle climate change, they may give rise to legal claims from companies whose investments are adversely affected by the low-carbon energy transition.
US-UK trade deal: Four things you might have missed, from food standards to climate commitments
3-Mar-2020 The Independent
The government has not ruled out imports of US agricultural products made to lower standards than in the UK.
Climate change poses risk to Africa’s free trade area: UN official
27-Feb-2020 China.org.cn
The recently-launched Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement faces climate change risks that could prevent the continent from gaining maximum trade benefits from the agreement.
The EU-Indonesia FTA sustainable impact assessment report and why it is so hard to find
12-Feb-2020 bilaterals.org
The sustainable impact assessment report of the free trade agreement between the European Union and Indonesia is not easy to find. Yet some of its findings are quite worrying.
US energy secretary hopes Mexico, Canada will help export American coal
10-Feb-2020 Reuters
Canada and Mexico could help export US coal to Asia via USMCA to get around the blocking of shipments by West Coast states, US Energy Secretary said.
Wallonia votes against EU trade pact with Mercosur countries
7-Feb-2020 Brussels Times
The Walloon parliament has voted unanimously in favour of a motion critical of the trade pact agreed between the European Union and the Mercosur countries.
Trump’s new trade deal is disastrous for the planet
6-Feb-2020 CNN
The deal’s chapter on the environment fails to even mention "climate change." Nor does it include meaningful standards to prevent corporations from dumping toxic pollution in border communities.
US-UK trade deal needs labor, climate protections, enforcement: US lawmaker
3-Feb-2020 Reuters
A future US-UK trade agreement must incorporate strong provisions on worker rights, environmental protection, US House Ways and Means Committee Chairman said.
How a trade deal with the US could destroy the UK’s climate change goals
24-Jan-2020 NewStatesman
Boris Johnson’s plan to diverge from EU rules threatens crucial environmental regulations.
Mercosur deal at odds with EU carbon neutrality aim, study claims
21-Jan-2020 The Irish Times
The controversial Mercosur trade deal is incompatible with the EU’s commitment to carbon neutrality and “may undermine global efforts to avert runaway climate change”.