Brussels, 10/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - In a press release published on Thursday 10 December, Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), which monitors any effects of corporate lobbying on EU policy-making, reveals how the “special rights” given to companies - as part of the free trade agreements negotiated by the EU with Canada (CETA) and the USA (TTIP) - to challenge progressive energy policies in court, threaten to prevent sustainable energy transition and to damage the fight against climate change.
According to the CEO report, the experience of trade agreements already in force shows that public environmental and climate policies are clearly the first targets of multinationals as part of these agreements - especially the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms that are linked to the agreements.
No less than 35% of known investor-state disputes in the world currently relate to hydrocarbons, electricity and mining, with a growing number of court cases targeting government initiatives in the energy sector.
Furthermore, the costs of these court cases weigh heavily on the states, in the form of legal fees or enormous financial sanctions and of watered down social or environmental regulations.
“From the phase out of nuclear power in Germany to the moratorium on fracking in the Canadian province of Quebec, big corporations are using ISDS's rigged rules to challenge virtually any attempt by governments to implement progressive energy policies”, CEO states.
The report also shows how law firms that make money when investors sue states are encouraging multinationals to take green energy measures to court (such as renewables targets and taxes on fossil fuels).
In addition, the same law firms can encourage investors to go to court in order to challenge the rejection of dirty energy projects (such as the controversial Canadian-American Keystone XL gas pipeline, which was recently rejected by US President Barack Obama over environmental concerns), CEO adds.
Despite the proposals tabled by European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström for reforming ISDS mechanisms, “ISDS is as alive and dangerous as ever”, CEO states. “Offering this blank cheque for climate culprits to sue the hell out of countries acting to prevent catastrophic climate change is nothing short of scandalous. If we are to have a chance of preventing extremely dangerous levels of global warming, these corporate bills of rights must be stopped”, CEO concludes.
The report can be downloaded from: http://www.tni.org/en/node/22638 . (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)