⌛ 100 days before COP26

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Hi John,

The Energy Charter Treaty is a giant deal to protect energy investments. At its heart is a corporate court system which is currently being used by:

two energy companies, Uniper and RWE, to sue the Netherlands over its coal power phaseout
UK oil company, Rockhopper, to sue Italy over a ban on offshore drilling close to the coast
UK fracking company, Ascent Resources, to sue Slovenia for requiring it to assess the environmental impact of fracking plans.

Today marks 100 days before the UN climate conference, COP26, begins. We have joined with over 400 allies across Europe in a letter calling on European governments to leave the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) before the conference.

Can you join us and co-sign the letter[1] which we will then send to the UK government?

Co-sign the letter

Corporate courts threat to the climate

Corporate courts (also known as ISDS) enable transnational corporations to sue countries outside of the national legal system over almost anything they don’t like. In recent years, we’ve seen a worrying trend of fossil fuel companies using corporate courts to undermine climate action. And the Energy Charter Treaty has been used for a lot of those cases.

The Energy Charter Treaty was signed in 1991 and involves over 50 countries. It was problematic even when it was signed, as it was always intended to protect fossil fuel investors. Initially it wasn’t much used, but in the last ten years, there have been over a hundred corporate cases brought by energy corporations through the ECT.

The treaty should be an obsolete relic. Instead it is being used to hold us back in the past and undermine climate action.

Across Europe there is a massive and growing movement to call on our governments to exit the ECT. Italy has already left. Some other countries such as France and Spain are listening to the pressure and considering leaving. So far the UK wants to stay put, but if we can ramp up the pressure that could change.

Please join us in calling on the UK government to leave the Energy Charter Treaty before the UN climate conference in November:

Take action

Thank you for all that you do.

Jean Blaylock
Trade campaigner at Global Justice Now

1) Civil society organisations letter: Exit the Energy Charter Treaty by COP26

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