Why are foreign companies suing governments that decarbonise?

It is becoming common for the fossil fuel industry to sue governments that attempt to decarbonise over “lost future profits.” They do so via an obscure part of international law called international-state dispute settlements (ISDS) that can allow them to extract billions in public money. 

Alasdair speaks to Eunjung Lee, a senior policy advisor at think tank E3G. The two discuss how ISDS began, how the international treaties came to being predatory, and what measures countries should take to prevent the exploitation of the claims.  

Eunjung Lee is a senior policy advisor at think tank E3G and is the lead investigator of international investment governance. She previously served as a South Korean diplomat and has worked in the Korean embassy in London. 

Further reading:  

• Investment treaties are undermining the global energy transition  - E3G 
• The climate crisis requires a new approach to international investment treaties - E3G 
• The Energy Charter Treaty remains the most dangerous investment treaty to the energy transition - E3G 
• Clean investments shun Investor-State Dispute Settlements - E3G 
•  Investor-state disputes threaten the global green energy transition | Science 
• “Shocking and sad”: how corporations use investment agreements to block decarbonisation in the Global South - Land and Climate Review 
•  How Exxon is using international law to sue the Dutch government   

Click here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.