War on Want has joined with over 270 other civil society organisations to call out dangers which the Energy Charter Treaty [ECT] poses to effective action on climate change.

The ECT is incompatible with the Paris Climate Agreement, Just Transition policies, and the expected European Green Deal, because it is used by large fossil and nuclear energy companies to lock-in their investments and challenge national government decisions to phase out dirty energy. The ECT contains measures to protect energy investments even where they contradict climate goals. And it has an Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism that allows foreign investors in the energy sector to directly sue governments outside of existing courts, in secretive international tribunals, claiming up to billions in compensation if their (future) profits are affected. 

You can read the full open letter below.