the science is clear the world needs to
stop burning fossil fuels to limit the
devastating effect
of climate change the netherlands has
legislated to shut down
all coal-fired power plants by 2030
but now a german energy company is suing
the dutch government
for 1.4 billion euros over that decision
the company rwe is using a secretive
international agreement
to claim compensation from the
netherlands
on thursday rwe's boss roger meason
appeared at a parliamentary committee
hearing answering questions about his
company's decision
to sue the dutch state he said his
company deserved to be paid damages from
the losses that would result
from the forced closure of its power
plant in emshaven
now this case is possible because of the
energy charter treaty
this international agreement allows
energy investors
to sue governments for their lost assets
and potential profits
resulting from regulatory changes the
cases take place in
closed door hearings at private
tribunals in washington dc
so far ect cases have resulted in
payments of more than 50 billion us
dollars to investors
and that's just the judgments we know
about most remain secret
when the ect was created in 1991
it was promoted as a way of giving
companies security when investing
in countries without reliable legal
systems but it's increasingly used
within the european union something that
many eu governments deem to be
unlawful activists from the ngo
corporate europe observatory
say that this treaty is now a major
blockage to addressing climate change
and as a result of these lawsuits that
foster few companies can take under the
energy charter treaty
governments can be forced to pay
millions if not billions in taxpayer
money
this means that climate action will
become more expensive and therefore less
yeah attractive i would say to taxpayers
but it's also a big incentive for
governments to
not take climate action in the first
case because of
out of fear of being sued we asked
rwe for comment it said
the company's emissions reduction
targets are in line with the paris
agreement
rwe will be carbon neutral by 2040
and about the forced closure of its
netherlands power plant
the dutch law does not provide proper
compensation for this interference
we do not consider this to be legal
big coal oil and gas have made quite a
lot of money
uh with destroying the planet for
decades really
now that they're forced to stop
destroying the planet
um do you really think that it's up to
taxpayers to compensate them in billions
often for power plants that are no
longer really worth much
because they cannot compete on the
market anymore and renewable energy is
much
cheaper i really think we should have a
very different debate about the
responsibility of these companies and
the damage they've done to the climate
and the environment
but definitely not force taxpayers to
pay them out
for yeah i would say a full business
model uh in the billions
the energy charter treaty is due to be
reviewed this year
but activists say they hold little hope
that it will be reformed
instead they say countries should leave
the treaty altogether
italy has done so and france recently
suggested that it and other european
countries
should do the same but germany is so far
silent on the matter
the role of german companies and the
german government and all of this is
really shameful
we have two german companies threatening
to sue the netherlands
or actually suing the netherlands for
phasing out call by 2030
the german government should clearly
have told the german companies that
it considers such lawsuits illegal
because that is actually the german
position
but it hasn't done so and at the same
time the german government should make
sure together with other eu countries
that polluters can no longer attack
climate action under the energy charter
treaty and pull out of the agreement
when it comes to climate change we're
often told that we need to change
our personal habits this case shows that
there are also
larger systematic mechanisms
discouraging meaningful change
even when governments are willing to act
activists say that these shadowy legal
systems
must be reformed or replaced or we have
little chance of avoiding catastrophic
climate change