In order to avert the climate crisis, fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas must remain in the ground. But the Energy Charter Treaty prevents a progressive climate policy. It allows corporations to sue states before international arbitral tribunals for billions of euros in damages if the states interfere with the broadly defined property rights of companies – for example through climate regulation.
Uniper, for example, is threatening to sue the Netherlands for phasing out coal. In the future, there will be a wave of lawsuits against climate policy regulations. How absurd the lawsuits are often, why the states agree to such investment treaties and what our demands are, this episode of our podcast is about.
(Unfortunately, we ended up with some sound problems. We apologise for the slight noise.)
English (US)