CETA, ECT and the environment are not green
PowerShift today published a new FactSheet showing Canadian investments in fossil projects in the EU, highlighting the ISDS litigation potential under CETA.
The outcome of the upcoming federal elections plays a decisive role in climate policy in the coming years. Perhaps a new coalition will decide in which direction German trade and investment policy should move. For many years, agreements such as the EU-Canada Agreement (CETA) have undermined democracy and climate protection on a global scale. Investors, for example in the fossil energy sector, are granted special rights, which endangers present and future generations as well as the planet. CETA significantly expands the existing possibilities for corporations to claim legal rights, which prevents effective climate protection.
Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) is included in trade and investment agreements. This gives foreign investors the right to sue states in arbitral tribunals on the basis of vague and well-defined property rights for compensation payments if they see their profits endangered by laws, for example, to protect the environment or human rights. CETA is the first in a series of EU agreements to introduce an Investment Court System (ICS) instead of the ‘traditional’ ISDS system. Unfortunately, however, these reforms do not go far enough, so potential lawsuits under the new system remain possible. The Bundestag and the Bundesrat must therefore reject the ratification of CETA.
Copyright: Act differently – CETA Protest, Pro GE, CC BY 2.0, https://www.flickr.com/photos/proge/28271987108/
