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ECT

Spain makes first payment in lengthy renewable energy fight
5-Jun-2025 Bloomberg
The Spanish government made its first payment as a result of an arbitration decision in 2021 around the country’s move to change investor incentives tied to renewable energy projects, following a number of lengthy legal battles between Spain and various creditors.
Recent fossil fuel arbitration claims based on the ECT: the urgency of neutralizing the sunset clause
23-May-2025 Veblen
The Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”), the most widely used investment treaty, has become highly controversial for enabling investors to challenge national policies aimed at achieving climate goals through its ISDS mechanism, leading to a phenomenon known as “regulatory chill.
Energy Charter Treaty irrelevant to Africa
15-Apr-2025 Monitor
The Energy Charter Treaty not only locks countries into outdated fossil fuel investments but also hampers their ability to pursue sustainable, climate-friendly energy policies.
British oil company files lawsuit against Kazakhstan
26-Mar-2025 Azernews
British oil and gas company Victoria Oil & Gas has filed a lawsuit against Kazakhstan, citing provisions under the Energy Charter Treaty.
EU Commission tells Spain not to pay up in long-running renewable subsidies case
25-Mar-2025 Reuters
The European Commission handed Spain a victory when it instructed the country not to pay any compensation in a case related to claims amounting to billions of euros on renewable energy subsidies cut more than a decade ago.
Romania loses Washington lawsuit over Dobrogea wind farm
20-Mar-2025 Romania Journal
The Romanian state has lost a lawsuit pending before the International Court of Arbitration in Washington, initiated in 2020 by an investor in the renewable energy sector.
Romania wins EUR 256 mln arbitration with solar parks investors
21-Jan-2025 Romania-Insider
Romania has won an international arbitration case brought by investors in renewable energy, avoiding EUR 256 million in claimed damages.
Commission must stop Energy Charter Treaty hijacking EU climate policy
18-Dec-2024 Euractiv
The Energy Charter Treaty allow fossil fuel investors to sue EU member states before international arbitral tribunals to challenge climate mitigation measures. This legal mechanism is increasingly weaponized by the industry.
“Shocking and sad”: how corporations use investment agreements to block decarbonisation in the Global South
12-Dec-2024 Land and Climate Review
Experts talk about investor-state dispute settlements, which allow fossil fuel companies to bring multi-billion dollar lawsuits against countries that pass green policies.
Civil society organisations push for transformative global investment rules
11-Dec-2024 SOMO
The Entebbe Declaration calls for justice and sustainability in global investment governance.
The Energy Charter Treaty remains the most dangerous investment treaty to the energy transition
4-Dec-2024 E3G
Our ranking reveals that the Energy Charter Treaty remains the most dangerous investment treaty to the energy transition by protecting over 300 megatonnes (Mt) of greenhouse gas emissions.
Energy Charter Treaty modernisation adopted, still undermines climate action
3-Dec-2024 Friends of the Earth Europe
Even after modernisation, the ECT continues to undermine European and global climate policies.
Azerbaijan files arbitration claim against Armenia for violating Energy Charter Treaty
25-Nov-2024 Caspian News
Azerbaijan filed a Statement of Claim with the Permanent Court of Arbitration against Armenia, as part of the international legal proceedings from February 2023, detailing Yerevan’s violations of Baku’s sovereign rights over its energy resources in the once-occupied territories.
Kenya’s energy goals could be jeopardised by foreign treaty, say experts
23-Oct-2024 The Standard
Critics argue that the ECT, designed to protect foreign investments, contains vague provisions that allow multinational corporations to sue governments for lost profits due to policy changes.
ExxonMobil sues the Netherlands over gas field closure
11-Oct-2024 SOMO
The multinational disagrees with the decision that gas production in the Dutch province of Groningen will be shut down early.
Australian mining firm trumps Poland in arbitration
9-Oct-2024 iclg
Invoking the Australia-Poland bilateral investment treaty, together with the Energy Charter Treaty, Green X has been awarded hundreds of millions of dollars over a thwarted mining project.
Investors sue Finland for attempt to curb power transmission prices
1-Oct-2024 XM
Investors in Finland’s largest power distributor Caruna are taking the Nordic country to arbitration, the Finnish foreign ministry said, due to the Finnish Energy Authority’s attempt to curb rising power transmission prices for ordinary consumers.
Opponents of controversial energy investment treaty to go after old agreements
26-Sep-2024 Euractiv
Having pushed the EU out of the controversial Energy Charter Treaty, pressure groups and MEPs are now aiming for the legacy of over 1,000 bilateral investment agreements signed over decades.
Why Switzerland is diverging from Europe on a key energy treaty
18-Jul-2024 Swiss Info
The European Union will withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty, an international agreement that protects investments in coal and oil. But Switzerland is sticking to the agreement which scientists considered incompatible with climate goals.
EU notifies exit from Energy Charter Treaty and puts an end to intra-EU arbitration proceedings
2-Jul-2024 European Commission
The EU has taken the final step to exit the Energy Charter Treaty; the Union and its Member States have also reached a formal agreement to put an end to the continuation of intra-EU arbitration proceedings under the ECT.