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UK could quit ‘climate-wrecking’ Energy Charter Treaty, minister announces
(EurActiv, 4 Sep 2023) Graham Stuart says if reforms to energy charter treaty not passed by November, UK would consider exit. EURACTIV’s media partner, The Guardian, reports.
The UK could pull out of the international energy charter treaty if attempts to reform it fail, the energy minister, Graham Stuart, has said.
The energy charter treaty (ECT) enables companies to sue governments over policies that would cut their future profits. Companies have sued over phasing out coal-fired power stations, ending offshore oil drilling and banning fracking, with some receiving large taxpayer-funded payouts.
Critics of the ECT include the European Union, which says staying in the treaty would “clearly undermine” climate targets. France, Germany, Spain and eight other countries have already said they will leave and the EU is also set to pull out en masse. The UK and Japan are the only major economies not to have committed to exiting the ECT.
The UK has been a “strong advocate” of reforming the treaty but the intention to leave it by numerous countries has created an impasse. Stuart said that if the reforms were not passed by November, the UK would consider withdrawal.
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EurActiv, 4 Sep 2023: UK could quit ‘climate-wrecking’ Energy Charter Treaty, minister announces
