Hi John,
We’ve just had our fears confirmed. Just when most countries are moving away from the toxic corporate court system, the British government wants to turbo-charge it. It is pushing to include corporate courts in the UK-Australia trade deal - which it wants to have ready to sign in time for the G7 summit next week!
Can you write to your MP and ask them to tell the government to drop corporate courts in the Australia deal?
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The problem with corporate courts
Corporate courts (also known as ISDS) can be written into trade rules. They let transnational corporations sue countries outside of the national legal system for almost anything they don’t like - banning toxic chemicals, introducing a sugary drinks tax, capping water rates - you name it. Either the corporations want payoffs in the millions or even billions of pounds, or they use corporate courts as a threat to force governments to back down.
Worryingly, now that we are finally seeing more governments around the world begin to take long needed action to tackle the climate crisis, we are also seeing more and more fossil fuel companies using corporate courts to challenge those actions. Most recently, two energy companies, RWE and Uniper, are suing the Dutch government over the phase out of coal power.
Many of you may have taken action earlier this year to try and stop a new coal mine being built in Cumbria. Together with thousands of activists across the country, our pressure helped create a breakthrough - the government has ordered public inquiry into the mine.
The investor behind the Cumbrian mine is an Australian company, EMR Capital. If the Australia deal goes ahead with corporate courts in it, and the government subsequently rules against the mine, then this is exactly the kind of case where EMR could sue.
Corporations should not be handed this power in trade deals.
Take action today
Talks have accelerated to breakneck speed on the Australia deal, because the UK wants to have a photo op in time for the G7 summit.
At the end of last week one of the UK’s trade ministers, Greg Hands, confirmed that ISDS is a live negotiation issue in the talks. As soon as we got that confirmation, we started speaking in the media [1].
We don’t have long but we need to let the government know that corporate courts are fundamentally unjust and should not be included in the UK’s trade deals. They’re trying to agree to corporate courts quietly because they know how toxic and controversial they are. If enough of us speak out and bring this into the public eye, they could be forced to back down. Please can you tell your MP that corporate courts should be dropped from the Australia deal:
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Corporate courts give fossil fuel companies the power to sue governments for taking action on the climate emergency. They are an obstacle to a clean energy transition and to achieving climate justice. We need to take a stand against them.
Thank you for your support.
Jean Blaylock
Trade campaigner at Global Justice Now
Notes:
1) Alarm at secret court scheme in UK-Australia trade deal, Guardian, 30 May 2021
2) A clause in the UK-Australia trade deal could let companies sue governments. We have been here before, Guardian 1 June 2021
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Behind closed doors...
The government is using trade rules to make life easier for big business, stripping away standards that protect us and our world.
Regular gifts give us the long-term stability to plan effective campaigns for a more just world, as well as to react to damaging trade deals with speed and strength.
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