Article 13.1 of Model IV provides that an investment dispute between an investor and a host state shall, as far as possible, be settled amicably through negotiations between the parties to the dispute, including conciliation procedures.
In August 2025, for the second time in its history, the UK government was sued by a foreign investor under investor-state dispute settlement provisions, through the 1975 UK-Singapore bilateral investment treaty.
This episode unpacks the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, world’s largest free trade agreement, and the dangerous push to insert the Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanism into its investment chapter.
Between July 14 and 17, in the city of Choluteca (Honduras), more than 60 people from 20 local communities and representatives of national and international social movements gathered for the “Meeting of communities affected by energy projects in southern Honduras - Without human rights, there is no energy sovereignty.”
Fossil fuel companies alone have launched over 300 ISDS cases, seeking over $80 billion in damages for climate-related policies aimed at phasing out oil, gas, and coal.
ICSID has released its FY 2025 caseload statistics, unveiling new data on damages including the difference between damages claimed and damages awarded.
The billionaire’s last three cases are part of a growing global list from fossil fuel companies against government decisions to reduce carbon emissions.
With COP30 in Brazil around the corner and with the prospect of Australia co-hosting COP31 next year, a major threat to effective climate action continues to fly under the radar: Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanisms in trade and investment agreements.