Read on Twitter
A company that bet on a coal plant, in the EU, in the 2010s, is now upset it has to close by 2030 
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😭" title="Loudly crying face" aria-label="Emoji: Loudly crying face">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🎻" title="Violin" aria-label="Emoji: Violin"> https://twitter.com/ClimateHome/status/1263439016390778881">https://twitter.com/ClimateHo...
Perhaps reckoning they wouldn& #39;t get much sympathy in https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇳🇱" title="Flag of Netherlands" aria-label="Emoji: Flag of Netherlands">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇪🇺" title="Flag of European Union" aria-label="Emoji: Flag of European Union">courts, Uniper is seeking compensation under the Energy Charter Treaty, a 90s-era deal to encourage investment between western and former Soviet states
The treaty is vague, it& #39;s old, it definitely wasn& #39;t written with climate protection in mind
Disputes go through a private arbitration process, heard by private lawyers, many of whom also have energy industry interests https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🧐" title="Face with monocle" aria-label="Emoji: Face with monocle">
Governments have paid out $51bn to energy companies under the ECT, that we know of - there& #39;s no obligation to disclose these cases @corporateeurope
Campaigners are worried fossil fuel companies will increasingly use the threat of litigation under the ECT to water down climate ambition
@BJVerbeek @KaarinaKolle @PauldeClerck3 @ClientEarth
@BJVerbeek @KaarinaKolle @PauldeClerck3 @ClientEarth
The ECT is up for renegotiation and the European Commission has proposed to reinforce governments& #39; right to set climate policy
That& #39;s likely to face resistance from oil-exporting member states. Even if it is adopted, it doesn& #39;t stop fossil interests from suing governments
It was notable, watching Uniper& #39;s AGM, that the majority of shareholder questions concerned climate change. They& #39;re also under fire for opening Datteln 4, a coal plant in Germany set to run until 2038
In a quirk of the story, Uniper is effectively owned by the Finnish government
The Finnish government has a majority stake in Fortum, which bought a majority of Uniper last year and replaced the top execs
This is the Finnish government that joined the international Powering Past Coal Alliance and recently set guidance for state-owned companies saying they should align with the 1.5C target in the Paris Agreement
But a Finnish official told me Fortum and Uniper are independent companies, not their problem https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤷♀️" title="Woman shrugging" aria-label="Emoji: Woman shrugging">
This is really informative on the Energy Charter Treaty, I wish I& #39;d come across it before I wrote the article! By @ysaheb HT @rkyte365 https://www.openexp.eu/sites/default/files/publication/files/2020-02-12_modernisation_of_the_energy_charter_treaty-presentation-final.pdf">https://www.openexp.eu/sites/def...
Estimates the cost to the EU of continuing with the ECT > investment needed for the Green New Deal https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😱" title="Face screaming in fear" aria-label="Emoji: Face screaming in fear">
It also shows the ECT has failed to deliver on its original, non-climate related objectives. It& #39;s a https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💩" title="Pile of poo" aria-label="Emoji: Pile of poo"> treaty
I write this thread to encourage you to look past the somewhat dry headline and read the story. FIN https://www.climatechangenews.com/2020/05/21/uniper-uses-investment-treaty-fight-netherlands-coal-phaseout/">https://www.climatechangenews.com/2020/05/2...
