This story was originally published in the Guardian, and reproduced here with the Climate Desk as part of a collaboration. According to the most comprehensive analysis to date, more than $100 billion in public money has gone to private investors through investor-state dispute resolution (ISDS) courts. The controversial arbitration system that allows corporations to sue government for compensation over decisions which they claim affect
[[{“value”:”This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced these as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
According to the most thorough analysis to date, more than$ 100 billion of public money has been distributed to private investors in state-based investor-state dispute settlement ( ISDS ) courts.
The contentious arbitration system, which allows businesses to sue governments for damages for decisions they claim affect their profits, is generally conducted secretly, with some decisions kept secret. However, a new world ISDS tracker that launches today claims that 114 billion has been so far paid out of the public purse to investors, roughly as many as wealthy nations gave in climate aid in 2022.
Fossil fuel companies have been by far the biggest beneficiaries of the business panels, making$ 80. billion in profits since 1998, according to the website. If current trends continue, at least another$ 48 billion will be disbursed to settle cases currently under litigation, the research finds.
The evidence supports what we’ve been saying for years: ISDS is the fossil fuel industry’s key weapon in opposition to climate laws.
Lucía Bárcena of the Transnational Institute, one of the three groups that created the tracker, said:” Much like the British government paid slaveholders around ]$ 9 trillion ] in today’s money for ending slavery, the ISDS mechanism continues a system where corporate perpetrators get paid for finally doing the right thing, or at least for stopping with doing the wrong thing. Instead of being distributed to the corporations responsible for causing it, this money should be used for reparations for the innocent victims of global warming.
Tom Wills, the director of the Trade Justice Movement, which co- created the tracker, said:” The data backs up what we’ve been saying for years: ISDS is the key weapon for fossil fuel companies against climate laws. Business courts are also used to threaten governments by rejecting regional or national calls for action. This needs to end. According to the data, reform is necessary now.
One of the most significant sources of investor-state claims was next week, when the EU countries abruptly withdrew en masse from the energy charter treaty.
However, the mechanism continues to be a hallmark of the majority of contemporary global investment agreements. International investors can sue states for billions of dollars when people policies, such as natural regulations, affect their expected profits.
Unlike federal courts, ISDS tribunals allow investors to shape the panels that will hear their case, creating “obvious risks of bias, conflicts of interest, possible misconduct and other abuses of power”, according to a UN report next October.
According to the report, the ISDS system had prevented states from implementing climate change also when it had been “necessary and near for decades.”
The tracker has a searchable archive of all 1, 362 ISDS cases filed. It shows that investors have so far tried to claim$ 857 billion from national governments, with 129 claims registered for$ 1 billion or more.
Some of the most eye- catching cases include:
TC Energy filed a$ 15 billion compensation lawsuit against the US government for the canceled Keystone XL pipeline, which would have brought 830, 000 barrels of very tar sands oil daily to the US coast. After a protracted campaign led by aboriginal Americans, farmers, and climate activists, Joe Biden abruptly removed the permit on his second day in office. Former president Donald Trump had pushed for the pipeline, which turned into a touchstone culture war.
Ruby River Capital’s claim for” no less than$ 20 billion” after the Quebec government canceled a natural gas liquefaction plant on the St. Lawrence River. An economic impact assessment had found that the plant would increase greenhouse gas emissions, hurt Indigenous American communities, and destroy biodiversity. RRC claimed the largest amount under the North American Free Trade Agreement always.
The most attractive ISDS claim currently being heard is Zeph Investment’s$ 200 billion case against Australia over a big anticipated mine in Western Australia which, Zeph Investment claims, the American government had “effectively destroyed”, in breach of the Asean free trade agreement.
After revoked three Australian-owned firms ‘ iron ore mining licenses, Avima Iron Ore is seeking$ 27 billion from the Republic of the Congo and rather handed them to a tiny Chinese investment group. The sum is nearly twice as much as the country’s GDP last year.
The contemporary ISDS system is viewed as a result of efforts to stop former colonies in the world west from appropriating or nationalizing commercial interests following independence. Yet the US Trade Representative applauds ISDS as a relaxing alternative to 19th-century gunboat diplomacy. However, it has largely changed to entice regional pushes for cultural and environmental regulation, which might have an impact on investor ambitions.
Fabian Flues, of the PowerShift NGO, which co- compiled the analysis, said:” The injustice is plainly clear: countries in the global south are the major victims of ISDS, while corporations from Europe and North America benefit. It gives a select some businesses and their shareholders access to public funds. This has to stop. Everyday, it’s high time for nations to renounce the treaties that include ISDS so they can create a just and sustainable future.
The Guardian requested comment from the US Chamber of Commerce and Business Europe.”}]] This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced these as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. According to the most thorough analysis to date, more than$ 100 billion of public money has been distributed to private investors in state-level dispute settlement ( ISDS ) courts. The contentious arbitration system, which allows businesses to sue governments for damages for decisions they argued affect decisions.
This story was originally published in the Guardian, and reproduced here with the Climate Desk as part of a collaboration. According to the most comprehensive analysis to date, more than $100 billion in public money has gone to private investors through investor-state dispute resolution (ISDS) courts. The controversial arbitration system that allows corporations to sue government for compensation over decisions which they claim affect
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