Wed. 22nd October, 7 pm. Free, all welcome!
Central United Reformed Church, Norfolk Street, S1 2JB
Our own government has been refusing to get rid of an extremely one-sided global appeals system, that empowers foreign corporations to block any climate action policies (for example) by claiming billions to “compensate” for future lost profits.
Now, the UK is being sued, for halting a coal mine in Cumbria!
Our speaker Cleodie Rickard is trade campaign manager at Global Justice Now, leading work to get rid of these courts, including winning the UK exit from the Energy Charter Treaty.
A fossil fuel firm is suing Britain for halting a controversial coal mine, using a secretive corporate court. This Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system is found in trade deals, and is increasingly used by fossil fuel companies to sue governments taking climate action.
So now Britain itself is being sued, after UK companies too have been rampant users of corporate courts around the world against government protections for the environment and human rights.
Countries have been sued by corporations over 1300 times in response to public policies on everything from minimum wage rises to plain-packaging cigarettes. But fossil fuel companies have been by far the biggest beneficiaries, awarded over $80 billion in claims since 1998.
The Cumbria coal mine was ruled unlawful by the UK’s high court due to its climate impacts and then abandoned. But because the UK hasn’t removed corporate courts from its trade deals, the investors behind the project are using their Singapore-registered holding companies to sue the British government via the UK-Singapore investment deal.
This is a watershed moment: UK ministers can no longer deny that ISDS is a direct threat to climate action both at home and overseas. But we do have the power to disarm fossil fuel firms of their secret weapon – if the UK drops ISDS from its trade deals.
Learn more about the campaign against corporate courts in the UK, and how we act in solidarity with global south movements fighting this system.
You’ll hear examples of cases being fought around the world, the wins we’ve achieved so far, and how we get rid of this corporate veto on climate action for good!
Wed. 22nd October, 7PM. Free, all welcome!
Central United Reformed Church, Norfolk Street, S1 2JB
This public meeting follows our AGM: 6.15–6.45 pm.
