In an open letter published on Tuesday 8 December, more than 200 leading climate advocates called on the European Union and the signatory states of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) to withdraw from the treaty, which they say hinders the transition to an energy system without fossil fuels.
This appeal is in line with the criticism expressed by nearly 250 MEPs (now more than 260) that the ECT is incompatible with the Paris Climate Agreement, in particular because of a clause that allows investors, including fossil industries, to sue a signatory state to the treaty before private arbitration tribunals, if they feel they have been harmed by a decision of that country’s government (see EUROPE 12594/11).
Asked by MEPs, the European Commission recently stated that it does not rule out a withdrawal from the ECT (see EUROPE 12615/35).
However, it favours treaty reform, notably on the grounds that unilateral withdrawal by the EU and Member States would trigger the ‘sunset clause’, under which the ECT would continue to apply to EU countries for a period of 20 years for investments existing before the date of exit from the treaty.
Including scientists such as Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Jean-Pascal van Ypersele and Jean Jouzel, but also economists such as Thomas Piketty and Tim Jackson, as well as former European Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, the signatories of the open letter for their part believe that the modernisation process “will not make the ECT Paris-compliant”.
They point out that the end of the protection of foreign investment in fossil fuels “is not even on the negotiation table” and “would anyway be unacceptable to many of the ECT’s signatories”, while any reform of the treaty requires unanimity.
To alleviate the problem of the sunset clause, they call on countries “to withdraw from the ECT simultaneously and to adopt an agreement that excludes investor claims within this group of countries”.
See the letter: https://bit.ly/36Vuo8D (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)