Articles for tag: climate change, Energiewende, fossil fuels, isds, Klimakrise

Undermining the Energy Transition

Australia is confronted with three multi-billion dollar investment treaty claims from a mining company. The basis for two of the claims is a judgment from the Queensland Land Court, in which the court recommended that no mining lease and environmental authority should be granted to a subsidiary of the claimant for its coal mine. The investment treaty arbitration serves as another illustration of how the international investment protection system poses a threat to an urgent and just energy transition. In this blog post, I explain the background of the investment treaty claim, the decision of the Queensland Land Court, and argue that the Court’s decision is an important precedent for the connection between coal, climate change, and human rights.

19. November 2023

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The Chinese threat we forgot about: Huawei and ISDS

During the era of coronavirus emergency, the words China and threat tend to suggest the origin of our common affliction. The world to emerge from coronavirus however will face both new challenges and the echo of old ones. An old problem is what to do about Chinese involvement in 5G infrastructure development. In light of the recent ban for Huawei equipment by the UK this post addresses the question of whether the Chinese multinational Huawei would have an investment claim against the German government were they to prohibit its participation in 5G deployment.

15. Juli 2020

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We Need to Talk About Valuation in ISDS

There is a remarkably solid consensus in ISDS about how damages should be calculated. But why indeed should we care about the technicalities of valuation? Toni Marzal argues that this is a key question of major legal and political significance, that ought to attract as much attention as the issues of arbitral jurisdiction or investor rights. Beyond the sheer figures awarded against States, there are several major reasons to get interested in quantum-related matters.

5. März 2020

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Some Thoughts on Facultative and Obligatory Mixity after Singapore and COTIF, and before CETA

The conclusion of agreements as ‘mixed’, that is jointly by the European Union and its Member States, is a legal phenomenon peculiar to the EU legal order. Notwithstanding the almost complete silence of the Treaties on the point, mixity quickly became common practice for the Union and was, in most instances, readily accepted by its contractual partners. That does not mean, however, that mixity has not given rise, to date, to lengthy and often heated debates within, between and before the EU institutions.

13. Oktober 2018

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In Praise of Limiting Democracy: a Defense of ISDS

With the UK Parliament debating CETA and the CJEU hearing arguments on the compatibility of EU law with the dispute resolution provisions, investor-state dispute resolution (ISDS) is very much in the news again. Many seem to be concerned about the integrity of the nation state, the ability of the people (within national boundaries) to order and determine their fates. Why should we not view ISDS as a threat to national wellbeing? The reason is that sometimes we need constraints on sovereign discretion.

27. Juni 2018

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„Reformierter“ Investitionsschutz in TTIP: Zwei Schritte voran – und gegen die Wand

Die Europäische Kommission verspielt gerade ihre Chance, das umstrittene internationale Investitionsschutzrecht ernsthaft zu reformieren und am Gemeinwohl auszurichten. In ihrem nun vorgelegtem Vorschlag an die USA für ein Investitionsschutzkapitel in TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) lässt sie die wesentlichen Probleme des Investitionsschutzrechts weitgehend unberührt. Nur auf den ersten Blick bietet sie Lösungen etwa für die strukturelle Einseitigkeit des Schiedsgerichtssystems.

3. Dezember 2015

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