REACTION: Climate Change Committee right to call for UK exit from fossil fuel treaty
Date: 28 June 2023
Campaigns: Climate, Trade
UK leaving could ‘tip the balance’ to stop Energy Charter Treaty being used to block climate action
Reacting to the recommendation in the Climate Change Committee’s 2023 Progress Report for the UK to announce its intention to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty (1), Cleodie Rickard, trade campaigner at Global Justice Now said:
“This welcome and very specific recommendation comes at a crucial time for the future of this climate-wrecking treaty. Numerous European countries have committed to leaving, but they’re still discussing the kind of co-ordinated withdrawal that would neutralise the sunset clause in the treaty and maximise the benefits of leaving. The UK announcing its exit now could really tip the balance.
“The committee is clear that attempts to patch up the treaty have failed. The proposed reforms would actually keep oil and gas projects protected for at least ten more years – a decade that is crucial for the climate transition if we are to have a liveable future for all. Exiting the treaty is the best way to prevent the public having to foot the bill for more massive payouts to big business in the midst of a cost of living crisis.
“For the climate fight, for its own self-image as an influential country, and in the taxpayer’s economic interest, the UK should get off the fence and join the exodus from the Energy Charter Treaty at once.”
Cases taken by fossil fuel companies under the treaty include suing governments over phasing out coal and bans of fracking. One company, Rockhopper, has won six times what it had spent on an oil drilling project which was halted when the Italian government introduced a ban on offshore oil drilling. To add insult to injury, the firm is using the money to finance new oil projects.
ENDS
Notes
1. The committee’s recommendation R2023-110 says: “The UK should announce intent to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty given the insufficient reach of the reforms secured in 2022, the risks associated with remaining in the Treaty and the bargaining power that could be associated with a critical mass of exiting parties.”
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Photo: David Mirzoeff/Global Justice Now
