Energy & environment

Most investor-state disputes (ISDS) have concerned environmental matters. Corporations are using the ISDS system found in trade and investment agreements to challenge environmental policies. As of end of 2019, 41% of all ICSID cases were energy and natural resources-related.

Most well-known cases include:

• Lone Pine Resources (US) vs. Canada: the investor challenged Quebec’s moratorium on the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for natural gas. The provincial government declared the moratorium in 2011 so as to conduct an environmental impact assessment of the extraction method widely accused of leaching chemicals and gases into groundwater and the air. Case pending (NAFTA invoked).

• Bilcon (US) vs. Canada: the US industry challenged Canadian environmental requirements affecting their plans to open a basalt quarry and a marine terminal in Nova Scotia. In 2015 the ISDS tribunal decided that the government’s decision hindered the investors’ expectations. Bilcon won and received US$7 million in damages, plus interest (NAFTA invoked).

• Vattenfall (Sweden) vs. Germany: in 2007 the Swedish energy corporation was granted a provisional permit to build a coal-fired power plant near the city of Hamburg. In an effort to protect the Elbe river from the waste waters dumped from the plant, environmental restrictions were added before the final approval of its construction. The investor initiated a dispute, arguing it would make the project unviable. The case was ultimately settled in 2011, with the city of Hamburg agreeing to the lowering of environmental standards (ECT invoked).

Photo: Kris Krug / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

(March 2020)

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Yahoo | 18-Mar-2024
Almaden delivered to Mexico written notice of its intention to submit a claim to arbitration against Mexico under the CPTPP.
Le Soir | 14-Mar-2024
Alors que la Belgique s’active pendant sa présidence de l’Union européenne (UE) à concrétiser une sortie du TCE par l’UE, elle refuse encore d’en sortir comme Etat. Un choix incohérent qu’elle pourrait payer très cher.
Cajar | 13-Mar-2024
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IISD | 12-Mar-2024
The proposal of a carveout emerges as a targeted damage control measure to address the recognized and urgent problem that ISDS poses to climate action.
Radio-Canada | 11-Mar-2024
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ABC News | 11-Mar-2024
The Romanian government has won a years long legal dispute with a Canadian mining company seeking damages over failed plans to open a gold and silver mine in the Eastern European country.
SOMO | 8-Mar-2024
Oil Refiner Klesch sues EU, Germany and Denmark over windfall profit tax while making record profits due to Ukraine invasion.
Euractiv | 8-Mar-2024
Les Vingt-Sept ont approuvé le retrait coordonné de l’UE du traité international sur la charte de l’Énergie, jugé trop protecteur des investissements dans les énergies fossiles et que de nombreux pays, dont la France, ont déjà annoncé vouloir quitter.
Reuters | 8-Mar-2024
European Union countries agreed to jointly quit an international energy treaty over concerns that it undermines efforts to fight climate change, officials said.