Last week the UK government signed us all up to the Pacific trade deal. In doing so it is locking two of the most aggressive users of corporate courts

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Hi John,
Last week the UK government signed us all up to the Pacific trade deal. That locks two of the most aggressive users of corporate courts in the world further into the corporate court system… one of which is us!

This could easily be avoided, but at present the UK government is choosing not to. Can you email the trade minister and tell her it is vital to drop corporate courts in the Pacific trade deal?
Email the trade minister ([link removed])
The Pacific trade deal, or CPTPP (1), was agreed in 2018 between eleven countries around the Pacific rim. The UK has been trying to join it for the last few years in a highly secretive process.

One of the most contentious parts of the deal is the notorious corporate court mechanism – the secret tribunals written into trade deals which enable corporations to sue governments for billions. Fossil fuel companies have been using them to challenge climate action, as we know from our campaigning on the Energy Charter Treaty.

UK companies' use of corporate courts is a massive threat to other countries in the Pacific trade deal, which includes several countries in the global south. Corporate courts have always been most used by corporations based in rich countries suing poorer governments, and UK businesses are among the worst offenders.

The UK could exclude itself from corporate courts in the Pacific trade deal by signing what are called ‘side letters’. New Zealand is doing this, and the UK has actually done this too – but only between us and New Zealand or Australia. Those two countries are worried about the risks of corporate courts and both asked the UK to exclude it.

The UK needs to take this further and exclude corporate courts (formally known as ISDS) with all the other countries too. Help us raise the pressure by emailing the trade minister:
Ask the minister to exclude corporate courts ([link removed])
A key country to worry about is Canada, where the Pacific trade deal would introduce corporate courts with the UK. Canadian companies in particular are aggressive users of corporate courts, having brought 64 cases over the years. Canada is a hub for mining and fossil fuel firms, and the majority of these cases relate to energy or environmental policies. (2)

One of the largest fossil fuel corporate court cases is by a Canadian corporation. The owners of the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline, TC Energy, are suing the US after President Biden cancelled it on climate grounds. They are demanding an astronomical US$15bn. (3)

In separate trade negotiations specifically with Canada, the UK government’s own strategy makes it an objective to ensure corporate courts are not included.

The UK government claims that the Pacific trade deal includes exceptions to protect environmental policy. But we know these don’t work. For example in another Canadian case, brought by mining company Eco Oro against Colombia, it was decided that a similar clause did not mean the government was excepted from having to pay a penalty – even though that is literally what an exception is supposed to do! This sweeps away the idea that these kinds of clauses can be a safety net.

The only effective way to protect people and planet from the dangers of corporate courts is to get rid of them.

In solidarity,
Jean Blaylock
Trade campaigner at Global Justice Now

Notes
1. The Pacific trade deal is also known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The countries in the trade deal are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

2. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, On the Offensive: how Canadian companies use trade and investment agreements to bully foreign governments for billion ([link removed]) s, 2022

3. Global Justice Now, Corporate Courts versus The Climate ([link removed]) , 2022

For more background, see our new briefing, What’s wrong with the Pacific trade deal? ([link removed])
** Stop corporate courts blocking climate action
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Fossil fuel companies are using secret tribunals written into trade deals to sue governments over climate action. But a movement is coming together to call on the UK and governments around the world to scrap these ‘corporate courts’.

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