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News from the movements

New AFTINET explainer: why ISDS is a threat to climate action
15-Jan-2025 AFTINET
This explainer sheds light on how Clive Palmer is using Investor-State Dispute Settlement provisions in trade agreements to claim up to $420 billion from the Australian government.
Clive Palmer’s foreign investor claims against Australia now $420b
10-Jan-2025 Pearls and Irritations
Clive Palmer’s latest claims join a growing global list of ISDS claims by fossil fuel companies defined by the UN and the OECD as threats to the global climate transition.
Thai CSOs warn the senate’s subcommittee about the ongoing FTA negotiation with the EU on TRIPs-plus provisions harmful to access to medicines
10-Jan-2025 Access to Medicines
FTA Watch representatives warned that stricter IP rules in a potential EU FTA could impact access to medicines, increase healthcare costs, and harm Thailand’s domestic pharmaceutical industry. They also highlighted concerns about EU demands regarding government procurement, plant variety protection (UPOV 1991), and import of remanufactured goods.
The EU’s lust for Indonesia’s nickel supply
7-Jan-2025 EU Observer
The EU desires open access to Indonesian nickel, crucial for its green transition, yet criticizes extractive practices in the Global South. Indonesia, however, seeks to develop its own processing industries and restrict raw material exports.
Colombia is defending its sovereignty from the power of global corporations
6-Jan-2025 Al Jazeera
Trade deals can allow international corporations to trample over the rights of governments in the Global South. That is the message from the Colombian government, which describes the effect of such deals as a “bloodbath” for their national sovereignty.
bilaterals.org: 20 years supporting resistance to free trade agreements
17-Dec-2024 bilaterals.org
To mark our 20th anniversary, we gathered in October in Bandung, Indonesia, to reflect on our journey, the changes over these two decades and the challenges we face both politically and in our communications.
EU deforestation law to be delayed as new threat emerges from EU-Mercosur trade deal
17-Dec-2024 Greenpeace
In the annex to the trade and sustainable development chapter of the EU-Mercosur agreement, several provisions entail fundamental changes in how the EUDR will work in practice.
Civil society organisations push for transformative global investment rules
11-Dec-2024 SOMO
The Entebbe Declaration calls for justice and sustainability in global investment governance.
The case against a UK Free Trade Agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council
10-Dec-2024 Trade Justice Movement
For the UK, entering into a trade deal with the GCC would fly in the face of public opinion, offer few projected benefits, and send a worrying message about the priorities of the UK’s trade policy when it comes to human rights and climate.
EU-Mercosur threatens people’s right, the planet & democracy
6-Dec-2024 Friends of the Earth Europe
After more than 20 years of secretive negotiations, an agreement has been announced on the EU-Mercosur free-trade deal.
The Mercosur deal — why would the EU trust a man like Milei?
4-Dec-2024 EU Observer
The EU’s climate hypocrisy is exposed yet again: while Argentina’s far-right president Javier Milei threatens to exit the Paris Agreement, the EU is turning a deaf ear and rushing to finalise the climate-wrecking EU-Mercosur trade deal.
Seeds, UPOV91 and trade deals: our response to the Government position
3-Dec-2024 Transform Trade
The UK has an opportunity to lead by example, removing UPOV91 provisions from trade deals and redirecting development assistance toward farmer-led initiatives.
Energy Charter Treaty modernisation adopted, still undermines climate action
3-Dec-2024 Friends of the Earth Europe
Even after modernisation, the ECT continues to undermine European and global climate policies.
The AfCFTA and land in Africa: towards a surge in land grabbing?
2-Dec-2024 GRAIN
Given that the AfCFTA could lead to a rise in demand for African land from agricultural and other investors, and that climate policies are increasingly looking to land projects to “capture” carbon, the risks for local communities whose livelihoods rely on land will be great.
Bringing together social and environmental demands in the fight against FTAs
2-Dec-2024 bilaterals.org
In order to put an end to free trade agreements, it is essential to continue to link the different struggles for the defence of territories and their natural resources, for the social demands of the people, for life and for peace.
Thai CSOs’ letter to the EU chief negotiator regarding concerns over the ongoing FTA negotiation with Thailand
29-Nov-2024 Access to medicines
Civil society and non-government organizations in Thailand oppose the provisions proposed by the EU that will have a vast and adverse impact on access to medicines, universal health coverage scheme, agriculture, food sovereignty, consumer protection, and livelihoods of Thai people.
Want to do something good for farmers? Stop the EU-Mercosur trade deal
28-Nov-2024 Greenpeace
Farmers across Belgium, Poland and France took to the streets of Paris, Brussels and dozens of other cities and expressed their strong opposition to a trade deal between the EU and the “Mercosur” countries: Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The EU-Mercosur trade deal must be stopped – NOW!
28-Nov-2024 ETJC
No more toxic trade deals between the EU and Latin American countries.
Civil society groups unite to monitor the 4th round of Thailand-EU FTA negotiation
26-Nov-2024 Thaiplus Net
Thai civil society groups, including FTA Watch and the Thai Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, have expressed serious concerns over the ongoing Thailand-EU Free Trade Agreement negotiations. Key issues include stricter intellectual property rights, which could impact access to affordable medicines, and potential threats to food security and public health. The groups are urging the Thai government to prioritize public health and environmental concerns over corporate interests.
20 years of free trade in Morocco, the dominant class cashes in
25-Nov-2024 bilaterals.org
Even before the colonial era, Morocco was forced to sign several trade agreements. Formal independence has not changed the status quo, and the country’s trade remains closely linked to the former colonial powers, especially France.