ISDS

The United Nations Summit Of The Future Appears Stuck In The Past

September 18, 2024 Manuel Perez-Rocha, Inequality.org. Educate! Corporatism, Global Economy, ISDS, Trade, United Nations (UN)

The United Nations is hosting world leaders on September 22 and 23 for a “Summit of the Future.” Unfortunately, the draft action plan for the summit, while full of lofty language and some good intentions, does not challenge the neoliberal model or corporate control of the global economy. On the contrary, it proposes, for example, to “facilitate access of developing countries to the WTO and promote trade and investment liberalization.” It’s astounding that this plan, which is supposed to serve as the basis for an inter-governmental agreement, is so stuck in the past. For decades now, social movements and elected officials in many countries have become increasingly opposed to trade and investment rules that grant enormous privileges and power to transnational corporations.

Wealthy Corporations Use Investment Agreements To Extract Millions From Developing Countries

January 25, 2024 Nicholas Kusnetz and Katie Surma, Scheer Post. Educate! Corporatism, Ecuador, Global South, ISDS, Rafael Correa

When Rafael Correa entered Ecuador’s presidency in 2007, the nation faced an opportunity and a challenge. Ecuador’s economy depended on oil, and global crude prices were near a record high. Much of the oil was extracted by foreign companies, however, so as prices surged more wealth began flowing overseas. More than a third of Ecuadorians were living in poverty, and Correa had come to power as a leftist promising “radical, profound and quick changes to the current model of so much exploitation, of so much injustice.” Soon after taking office, Correa increased a recently enacted windfall tax on oil companies. The idea was to use the tax as leverage to extract better terms from the companies, and this fight against foreign firms quickly became a high-profile pillar of Correa’s broader campaign to assert the nation’s sovereignty.

The Country Is Not For Sale

May 12, 2023 Teri Mattson, WtF is Going on in Latin America and the Caribbean. Podcast – WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean Corporatism, Honduras, ISDS, Trade, ZEDES

On May 3, Democratic U.S. lawmakers urged the U.S. Trade Representative and State Department to eliminate investor-state dispute settlement provisions from current and future trade deals and to intervene on behalf of Honduras against a U.S. company's nearly $11 billion claim against the country. In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Trade Representative Katherine Tai, 33 lawmakers said that investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) systems in trade deals constitute a "problematic corporate handout" that violates countries' sovereignty and democratic rights. ISDS mechanisms enable multinational corporations to sue the governments of foreign trading partners for profits they claim have been forfeited as a result of domestic policies designed to protect workers, consumers, and ecosystems.

US Judge Upholds ConocoPhillips $8.5B Award, Venezuela Rejects Ruling

August 29, 2022 Andreína Chávez Alava, Venezuela Analysis. Educate! ConocoPhillips, ISDS, Juan Guaido, Venezuela

A Washington D.C. federal judge has granted US oil corporation ConocoPhillips final approval to enforce a multi-billion arbitration award against Venezuela. On August 19, US District Judge Carl Nichols issued a default judgment in favor of ConocoPhillips to collect on a US $8.5 billion arbitration award plus around $22 million for reimbursement of legal costs after the Venezuelan so-called “interim government” failed to appear in court for more than two years. The default claim was entered by the court in October 2021. “Venezuela still has not entered an appearance or otherwise opposed the Motion. For the following reasons, the Court grants the Motion and enters [a default] judgment for Petitioners,” indicated the court’s file.

COP26: Emitters Sue To Chill Climate Measures

November 9, 2021 Manuel Pérez-rocha, Consortium News. Educate! climate crisis, COP26, ISDS, Lawfare

International negotiators are meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, to develop solutions to the climate change threat. But one major obstacle to global sustainability is largely absent from the discussions: the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) system. This system gives transnational corporations the power to sue governments over actions — including policies to address climate change — that reduce the value of their foreign investments. Allowing corporations to continue to wield this power could undermine whatever agreements might be reached in Glasgow. How does this system work? Clauses in more than 2,600 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) allow foreign investors to bypass domestic courts and sue sovereign states in international tribunals for millions — and even billions — of dollars.

Limiting Corporate Powers To Sue Governments Over Extractives Policies

November 2, 2021 Manuel Perez-Rocha, Counterpunch. Educate! climate crisis, COP26, Democracy, ISDS

Next week international negotiators are meeting in Glasgow, Scotland to develop solutions to the climate change threat. But one major obstacle to global sustainability will be largely absent from the discussions: the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) system. This system gives transnational corporations the power to sue governments over actions — including policies to address climate change — that reduce the value of their foreign investments. Allowing corporations to continue to wield this power could undermine whatever agreements might be reached in Glasgow. How does this system work? Clauses in more than 2,600 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) allow foreign investors to bypass domestic courts and sue sovereign states in international tribunals for millions — and even billions — of dollars.

When Trade Deals Couldn’t Get Any Worse – Enter Wall Street

December 18, 2016 Pau Keenlyside, www.sierraclub.org Educate! ISDS, Mining, Trade, Wall Street

By Paul Keenlyside for the Sierra Club. What connects two proposed gold mines, one in the high-altitude wetlands of Colombia and one in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania? Both mines would require huge quantities of cyanide and threaten watersheds used by millions of people for drinking water. One would damage a unique, legally protected ecosystem and the other would destroy an ancient, UNESCO-nominated settlement. Both have been opposed by scientific bodies, protested by tens of thousands of people, and restricted by domestic courts. And in both cases, the Canadian mining corporations behind the projects (Eco Oro in Colombia and Gabriel Resources in Romania) have responded to the mining denials by using trade and investment deals to sue the governments in private tribunals.

Uruguay Wins Philip Morris Case, But Regulatory Chill Achieved

July 9, 2016 Staff, www.mercopress.com Educate! health, ISDS, Tobacco, Trade

By Mercopress. “The Uruguayan state has emerged victorious and the tobacco company's claims have been roundly rejected,” Uruguayan President Tabare Vasquez said in a televised national address. He was citing a decision by the World Bank's arbitration body, the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, ICSID. The lawsuit at the World Bank investment disputes center marked the first time a tobacco group had taken on a country in an international court. The world’s biggest tobacco company — whose annual revenues of more than US$80bn across 180 countries far exceed Uruguay’s GDP of US$50bn, claimed that a 2009 anti-tobacco law damaged its intellectual property rights and hit sales.

Corporate Tax Avoidance Could Get Worse Under Trade Agreements

February 16, 2016 Staff, www.globaljustice.org.uk Educate! CETA, ISDS, Taxes, TTIP

By Staff of Global Justice Now - Corporations are regularly using secretive corporate courts to undermine the ability of countries to pass effective tax legislation, according to a new report,Taxes on trial: How trade deals threaten tax justice. The report warns that if the free trade deal being proposed between the EU and the USA were to come into force, it would massively increase the ability of corporations to sue member states of the EU over measures such as windfall taxes on exceptional profits, or use of taxation as a policy instrument such as a possible ‘sugar tax’.

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