Investor-state dispute settlements: great for business, risk

[Oscar]

Investor-state dispute settlements: great for business, risky for the environment

[ https://www.ecojustice.ca/isds-settleme ... vironment/ ]

Posted in Healthy communities on February 14, 2017 (updated: February 22, 2017)

We take a look at how investor state disputes impede environmental policy As you might have read in your daily news feed, Canada’s new trade agreement with the European Union (EU) is getting closer to being implemented — the European Union Parliament is expected to vote on the agreement in February. [ http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau ... -1.3972534 ]

What you might not know is that the deal almost didn’t happen after the Belgian region of Wallonia baulked at the trade agreement’s plan to give foreign investors access to a highly controversial legal system, Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). What makes ISDS divisive is it exposes governments to potentially expensive private arbitration by foreign corporations who feel that environmental protection measures impede their business — the Canada-EU deal is now back on track, after the Walloons forced major changes to the ISDS part.

This is a problem that Canada knows only too well. [ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/u-s-firm- ... r-1.180821 ]

The federal government is now defending itself from a landmark claim brought under the North American Free Trade Agreement’s (NAFTA) ISDS provisions by an American corporation, Bilcon of Delaware. The company wants $300 million compensation because Canada’s environmental assessment laws blocked it from building a quarry in a sensitive coastal area of Nova Scotia — the case presents a prime example of the problems with private investor state disputes.

And for the past few months [ https://www.ecojustice.ca/wp-content/up ... 000-15.pdf ], Ecojustice has worked, on behalf of the Sierra Club of Canada and East Coast Environmental Law (ECELAW), to block Bilcon’s claim in court.

Let’s back up a second for those unfamiliar with the case.

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[ https://www.ecojustice.ca/isds-settleme ... vironment/ ]