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)

Reuters | 10-Mar-2017
A World Bank tribunal’s order for Venezuela to pay $1.4 billion in damages to Exxon Mobil Corp over nationalizations has been annulled
SAT PR | 10-Mar-2017
The Kyrgyz Republic has notified Stans that it filed a claim with the High Court of Justice to set aside the jurisdictional award rendered by the UNCITRAL Tribunal in favor of Stans.
El Tiempo | 9-Mar-2017
A la fecha, se sabe que al menos tres empresas legalmente constituidas en Canadá – Eco Oro Minerals, Tobie Mining-Cosigo Resources y Gran Colombia Gold – han activado procedimientos de arbitraje internacional de inversión contra nuestro país, a partir las salvaguardas que el TLC en les otorga.
The Hindu | 8-Mar-2017
The tax demand was challenged by Cairn Energy through an international arbitration where it also made a case against the dividend freeze
Lexology | 8-Mar-2017
A Canadian company, Gold Reserve Inc, disputed a permit revocation that affected a gold and copper ore deposit exploration project in Venezuela.
International Economic Law and Policy Blog | 8-Mar-2017
The consequence of this decision is that investors would likely be put above all other victims of terrorism and related political violence in conflict areas. That is shocking from the perspective of international justice.
Globes | 4-Mar-2017
The international arbitration panel ruled that Egypt failed to protect the Sinai pipeline from terrorists.
Open Canada | 3-Mar-2017
NAFTA has its fair share of critics who want to see it updated. But if Trump has his way, a re-negotiated agreement may prove disappointing.
La Presse | 1-Mar-2017
TransCanada a suspendu une poursuite de 15 milliards $ contre les États-Unis relativement à Keystone XL à la suite de signaux lancés par le président américain Donald Trump qui laissent peu de doute quant à l’approbation du projet d’oléoduc.
Reuters | 28-Feb-2017
TransCanada Corp has suspended a $15 billion NAFTA suit filed against the United States over the Keystone XL pipeline after U.S. President approved the project.