Published49 minutes ago
The UK has withdrawn from an international treaty that lets fossil-fuel companies sue governments pursuing climate policies for billions in compensation for lost profits.
The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is meant to make it easier and cheaper to trade energy between countries.
But signatories have struggled to reform it – and late on Wednesday, the UK quit the treaty calling it “outdated”.
Green campaigners welcomed the news.
Energy Security and Net Zero Minister Graham Stuart said: “Remaining a member would not support our transition to cleaner, cheaper energy and could even penalise us for our world-leading efforts to deliver net zero.”
Since 2001, nearly 160 legal actions based on the ECT have been brought by investors claiming their investments had been damaged by green policies such as renewable-energy subsidies, and seeking compensation from governments.
In recent years, countries implementing climate-change strategies have tried to exclude fossil-fuel companies from being able to take legal action.
But after more than 15 rounds of negotiations, signatories were unable to agree when this should happen.
And the UK’s withdrawal follows that of France, Spain and Germany, who worried the ECT would see them facing legal action from all sides – companies claiming they had breached the treaty and green organisations claiming they were not fulfilling their climate commitments.
In 2009, Germany faced a $1.9bn (£1.5bn) claim by
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