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 | 21-Dec-2023
Canadian pension fund Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec and the Mexican economy ministry have temporarily suspended an international arbitration procedure to try to reach an agreement.
La Jornada | 21-Dec-2023
Por mutuo acuerdo, el gobierno mexicano y los fondos Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec y CDP Groupe Infrastructures Inc. decidieron suspender temporalmente un procedimiento arbitral, iniciado por ambas firmas en materia energética.
Andina | 21-Dec-2023
El Estado peruano obtuvo otro triunfo en el Centro Internacional de Arreglo de Diferencias relativas a Inversiones, en el caso Maple Gas, donde Worth Capital Holdings abandonó el reclamo de 136.3 millones de dólares.
CIAR Global | 20-Dec-2023
Fondo inversor canadiense presenta un arbitraje de inversiones contra México relacionado con explotaciones energéticas.
Ukrinform | 20-Dec-2023
A court in the United Kingdom has recognized the decision of the Hague arbitration to compensate Naftogaz Group for $5 billion for assets seized by Russia in Crimea.
CIAR Global | 19-Dec-2023
Almaden y Almadex, dos mineras canadienses, han solicitado consultas con México, previas al arbitraje internacional, en el marco del Acuerdo de Asociación Transpacífico.
IRIS | 18-Dec-2023
En février 2023, l’entreprise responsable du défunt projet d’exportation de gaz naturel liquéfié à Saguenay a déposé une poursuite en arbitrage international contre le Canada afin de réclamer des dommages et intérêts de 20 milliards de dollars.
France 24 | 15-Dec-2023
An "explosion" of multibillion-dollar claims by fossil fuel and extractive firms through shadowy investment tribunals is blocking action on climate and nature.
Canada’s National Observer | 15-Dec-2023
A company launched a record-breaking NAFTA lawsuit against Canada — confirming the dire threat that investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) poses to bold climate action.
The Nation | 13-Dec-2023
A legal regime known as investor-state dispute settlements erode environmental regulation and increase fossil fuel industry profits.