The first fossil fuel phase out conference

For the first time since the Paris agreement, a conference is organised to discuss how to phase out fossil fuels. What will co-host, the Netherlands, bring to the table?

Since the Paris agreement in 2015, most climate conferences have been a frustrating disappointment. The last one in Brazil’s rainforest has been no exception: the final text did not even mention phasing out fossil fuels. Surprisingly however, Colombia and the Netherlands proposed to co-host a conference to specifically discuss how to phase out fossil fuels. One of the bottlenecks in the discussion is a set of legal rules and treaties allowing for Big Oil companies to claim compensation for loss of income to states, or to dispute their liability for mining damages. In the Netherlands for instance, Shell and ExxonMobil are using international arbitration to challenge their liability for decades of damage caused by gas extraction in Groningen. Dozens of Dutch investment treaties continue to protect fossil fuel investors worldwide, in some cases until well after 2050. In eleven days, the Netherlands will co-host the first international conference on the transition away from fossil fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia. What will the country bring to the table? Both ENDS and SOMO are launching a roadmap with four concrete pathways to end investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in the Netherlands.

Together with Suzanne Kröger Tweede Kamerlid voor GroenLinks-PvdA Fernando Hernandez Espino Senior Trade and Investment Policy Officer for Both Ends Bart-Jaap Verbeek senior researcher at SOMO Alessandra Arcuri Professor of International Economic Law, Erasmus School of Law Coert Fossen Chair, Groninger Bodem Beweging

About the speakers

Fernando Hernandez Espino works at the intersection of international investment rules, climate justice and civil society strategy. At Both ENDS, he leads the work on trade and investment policy and manages partnerships with organisations across Latin America, Africa, and South East Asia. He is co-author of the roadmap.

Bart-Jaap Verbeek is a senior researcher at SOMO specialising in international investment treaties and investor-state arbitration. He has analysed the Netherlands’ legal exposure to ISDS claims and the available options for treaty termination. He is co-author of the roadmap.

Suzanne Kröger is a member of the Dutch House of Representatives and GroenLinks-PvdA’s spokesperson on climate and energy. She sits on the standing committees for Climate and Green Growth, European Affairs, and Foreign Affairs, and is one of the most outspoken parliamentary voices at the intersection of climate policy and international law.

Alessandra Arcuri is Professor of International Economic Law at Erasmus School of Law and one of the most cited scholars on ISDS and the fossil fuel transition. She has published extensively on how investment treaties undermine climate policy and is a signatory to the open letter from 220 economists and legal scholars to Colombian President Petro calling for action on ISDS ahead of the Santa Marta conference.

Coert Fossen is chair of the Groninger Bodem Beweging, the citizens’ organisation that has spent more than fifteen years defending the interests of those harmed by gas extraction in Groningen. He speaks from direct experience of what it means when governments fail to protect their citizens against the interests of fossil fuel investors.