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Summary
- Fossil fuel companies use Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms to sue governments for lost profits due to regulations related to curbing carbon emissions.
- ISDS tribunals have resulted in billions of dollars in damages being awarded to oil and gas companies, threatening countries’ budgets and economic stability.
- Momentum is growing to end ISDS provisions in trade agreements, with the UK and EU taking steps to exit treaties requiring ISDS.
There is an obscure mechanism by which fossil fuel companies maintain their global domination even as their products are destroying our futures. Most rank-and-file climate activists haven’t heard of it and most news media rarely discuss it in great detail. It is a tool that has its origins in colonialism and advantages corporate power over democracy. The technical term for such a tool is “Investor-state dispute settlement” or ISDS. And while it sounds boring and technical, it is crucial that we familiarize ourselves with it in order to dismantle it.
The Global ISDS tracker, a newly launched online database, describes these as “secretive corporate tribunals.” When nations enter into trade agreements with one another, they usually include a clause on using the benign-sounding ISDS to resolve corporate disputes with national regulators. In other words, if a corporation originating in one nation sees its profits threatened by regulations or nationalization in another nation, it can sue that second government.
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Read the full post at CounterPunch.
