Hi John,
On Sunday, the Pacific trade deal enters into force for the UK. And with it, the threat of corporate courts it contains.
Companies based in the 12 countries that are part of the Pacific trade deal will now have the power to sue governments including the UK over policies which they allege harm their profits, using the investor-state dispute settlement provisions – or ISDS – contained in the deal.
This is a gift to litigious fossil fuel companies. Recent research showed that the Pacific trade deal is the second worst trade deal in the world for protecting greenhouse gas emissions through corporate courts – covering fossil fuel projects responsible for a potential 165 megatonnes of CO2 emissions annually. (1)
This is behind only the notorious Energy Charter Treaty, which our campaign got the UK to leave earlier this year. If our previous government found this treaty incompatible with its net zero goals, it seems a no-brainer for a new government that has expressed a desire to show climate leadership to extend this stance to the Pacific trade deal.
On the eve of the UK’s accession, can you ask the Secretary of State to drop corporate courts in the Pacific trade deal?
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There is a simple way to remove the threat. The previous UK government signed ‘side letters’ with Australia and New Zealand agreeing to drop the ISDS provisions in the deal between these countries. To defend our capacity to act for people and planet from corporate claims, the new government must sign such side letters excluding ISDS with all other member countries.
Canada’s membership of the deal poses considerable danger to the UK. It is a hub for mining and fossil fuel firms, and companies based in Canada have launched 64 corporate court cases over the years.
Most of these have challenged energy and environmental policies, such as an astronomical $15 billion claim over the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline – which would have carried 830,000 barrels of highly polluting tar sands oil to the US coast every day – following a decade-long campaign by Indigenous Americans, farmers and climate activists in the US. (2)
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We know that the pitiful 0.08% of GDP the Pacific deal is supposed to bring in economic benefit to the UK is dwarfed by the risk of costly corporate claims. As the UK formally joins the deal, thank you for helping us highlight how to protect climate action from corporate ransom.
In solidarity,
Cleodie Rickard,
Trade campaigner at Global Justice Now
1. The Energy Charter Treaty remains the most dangerous investment treaty to the energy transition, E3G, 4 December 2024
2. What is wrong with the Pacific trade deal?, Global Justice Now, March 2023
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