We did it! The UK government has just announced that it is leaving the Energy Charter Treaty.

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Hi John,
We did it! The UK government has just announced that it is leaving the climate-wrecking Energy Charter Treaty, almost three months after its deadline for reforms expired.(1)

It means the UK is leaving behind this shadowy legal framework which lets the fossil fuel industry demand millions of pounds in payouts when governments take climate action.

This is a huge breakthrough in our campaign – and it couldn’t have happened without your incredible support.

John, can you help us win more victories like this by joining Global Justice Now as a member today?
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** How it happened
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John, it's
worth taking a moment to celebrate this campaign win, and the leading role Global Justice Now supporters like you have played in achieving it.

Here's some of the highlights over the last three years...
April 2021 – Exit ECT campaign launches with allies during the pandemic, ahead of the UK hosting the COP26 climate summit. 30,000 people join in the first few weeks.
September 2021 – The first day of action sees protests and street stalls around the country, from Reading to Ayrshire. Hundreds join a webinar with campaigners from around the world.
September 2021 – Sky News covers our research on the threat to climate action posed by the Energy Charter Treaty and similar deals.
December 2021 – Over 45,000 petition signatures delivered to the government.
May 2022 – National day of action targets companies and law firms profiting from the treaty. IPCC report warns of the threat to climate action from the ECT and the wider ‘corporate court’ regime.
June 2022 – ECT reforms are agreed in principle, but condemned as 'greenwash' for locking in a further decade of fossil fuel claims. Thousands of supporters contact their MPs – eventually 90% will hear from constituents.
October 2022 – Demonstration at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy as France announces it will leave, joining Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Slovenia and Poland. Germany and Luxembourg soon follow, as reform talks fail to reach agreement.
April 2023 – Over 100,000 petition signatures delivered at the Big One weekend of climate action. Targeted lobbying of key MPs begins.
June 2023 – More than 60 opposition MPs sign a parliamentary motion of support. The Committee on Climate Change, the UK government’s independent advisors, recommends UK withdrawal.
September 2023 – Chris Skidmore MP tables an amendment to the Energy Bill calling for ECT exit. The UK government announces it will review membership if reforms are not passed by November.
October 2023 – Scottish supporters take the message directly to the Scottish parliament, as the SNP passes a motion calling for the UK to join others in leaving.
November 2023 – 120,000 signatures delivered to 10 Downing St ahead of the government's November deadline. Reforms fail again.

February 2024 – The UK finally announces its withdrawal
John, campaigning for big changes like this takes a huge amount of time and resources. Regular support is crucial and allows us to stick with an issue over several years if necessary. By joining as a member you can help us win much needed victories like this in the future.
Join now by giving £3 a month ([link removed])
Join now by giving £5 a month ([link removed])
Join now by giving £10 a month ([link removed])
Together we have forced the UK government to recognise that this treaty is a major threat to the UK’s green transition, and the only sensible course of action is to leave. Next we will need to persuade them to co-ordinate with other members who are leaving to maximise the benefits of exiting.

But for today, we can take heart from the fact that change is possible, and that even obscure trade agreements that originally no one has heard of can be overturned.

The UK leaving is sure to mean the whole ECT crumbling, and that blows a huge whole in the wider system of corporate courts - these powerful economic rules that enshrine corporate profits over people and the planet. Now we take this momentum to scrap corporate courts from all trade deals.

Thank you,
Cleodie Rickard
Global Justice Now
Notes

1. UK quits ‘outdated’ treaty that could penalise shift to net zero ([link removed]) , Independent, 22 February 2023

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Photos: David Mirzoeff, Jess Hurd, Salisbury XR, Andrea Domeniconi, Jonathan Salariya/Friends of the Earth EWNI, Léo Bodelle.
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