Europe’s got a dirty secret.
It could kill the Paris Climate Agreement, and even block
EU countries from implementing a Green New Deal.
A piece of paper signed 25 years ago gives big oil, gas,
and coal companies the power to sue entire countries for
billions over laws that damage their profits. And
right now, they’re using that power to block a green energy
transition and accelerate climate chaos.
The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) can be used to challenge
oil drilling bans, the rejection of gas pipelines and taxes on
fossil fuels. And it works. Governments are forced either
to relax their clean energy laws, or pay eye-watering sums of money
in compensation to fossil fuel companies.
Tell
the EU and the government of Russia to pull out of the Energy
Charter Treaty!
Citizens all over the EU want a Green New Deal. But
that’ll only happen if we rip up this unfair agreement and stop
letting fossil fuel corporations boss us around. Italy
already did it. Now, the rest of Europe has to follow
suit.
The number of lawsuits under the ECT -- which take place not in
normal courts, but in closed-door tribunals -- has exploded in
recent years. There have been over 83 cases in the past six
years alone, and the majority have been decided or settled in favour
of dirty energy corporations. This so-called "Investor
State Dispute Settlement" (ISDS) regime must end.
Take the multinational Vattenfall, which was able to
relax environmental restrictions on one of its coal plants
by suing Germany for €1.4 billion. Or Germany’s own Uniper,
which is threatening the Netherlands with a massive lawsuit if it
goes ahead with a coal ban.
But we’ve got a chance to strike back. All over
the continent, people like you and me are pushing our
governments to take action against the dirty fossil fuel industry.
We’ve made climate change a major issue in recent
elections and staged millions-strong climate strikes.
Now, we need to use that same people power to end the Energy
Charter Treaty -- because if we don’t, we’ll soon be back at
square one.
There’s
no time to waste -- tell European governments to stop the fossil
fuel industry’s bullying and pull out of the Energy Charter
Treaty.
