Five young plaintiffs are suing a dozen ECHR members, including France, Germany, and the U.K., because they are home to corporations that have invoked the ECT to impede a clean energy transition. They’re trying to persuade the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) violates the right to life and right to respect for private and family life. This counters two German energy companies, for example, that are suing the Netherlands for $1.5 billion and $1.1 billion as compensation for that government’s plan to phase out coal by 2030. The Italian government is being sued by Rockhopper Exploration for $237 million after reintroducing a ban preventing the U.K.-based company from drilling an oil field in the Adriatic Sea. And yesterday Spain demanded the EU quit the ECT saying it threatens the bloc’s climate goals.
www.politico.eu/article/spain-demands-eu-leave-energy-treaty-over-climate-concerns/
www.commondreams.org/news/2022/06/21/young-europeans-sue-stop-treaty-fossil-fuel-giants-use-foil-climate-action