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Germany’s RWE uses Energy Charter Treaty to challenge Dutch coal phase-out
(EurActiv, 5 Feb 2021) German energy giant RWE has used the Energy Charter Treaty to claim compensation from the Netherlands over its planned phase-out of coal from the country’s electricity mix by 2030.
The arbitration claim for €1.4 billion in compensation was denounced by climate campaigners as yet more proof that the treaty, an international investment agreement signed in 1994, is unfit for supporting the shift away from fossil energy.
“It’s outrageous that fossil fuel firms can use this powerful treaty to obstruct the clean energy transition,” said Wendel Trio, the director of Climate Action Network Europe.
“It’s high time for European countries to withdraw from this dangerous agreement and don’t waste any more time in futile attempts to reform it,” he added.
The treaty is an international agreement, which allows energy companies to challenge governments for implementing measures that could impact the expected income from investments they have made.
But it is facing criticism for protecting fossil fuel projects and being incompatible with the Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit global warming to 2°C maximum.
“RWE’s billion-euro attack on the Dutch coal phase-out shows how the Energy Charter Treaty threatens the EU’s Green Deal and the climate law,” Pia Eberhardt from the Corporate Europe Observatory, said on Twitter.
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EurActiv, 5 Feb 2021: Germany’s RWE uses Energy Charter Treaty to challenge Dutch coal phase-out
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