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News from the movements

Carlos Vicente: A “man-tree”
25-Mar-2022
GRAIN and bilaterals.org are heartbroken to announce the passing of our brother, comrade and colleague, Carlos Vicente.
Climate action needs investment governance, not investment protection and arbitration
17-Mar-2022 CCSI
Existing investment treaties do not and cannot advance climate goals.
Statement on the transnational consequences of the war in Ukraine on food insecurity in many African countries
16-Mar-2022 afrique-europe-interact
No to the free trade regime! Solidarity-based practice for a right to food sovereignty! Strengthen local, small-scale agriculture! Actively prevent hunger crises! WTO waiver 2.0!
AFTINET raises alarm on risk of UK companies suing the Australian Government through the CPTPP
7-Mar-2022 AFTINET
AFTINET has raised the alarm over the possibility that British corporations will gain the right to sue the Australian Government if the UK is granted membership in the CPTPP.
Riches for Australian miner equals misery for Thai villagers
4-Mar-2022 Michael West
The gold mine was closed by the Thai government, but an obscure clause in a “free trade” agreement has allowed the lucrative mine in Central Thailand to reopen.
10 days for submissions on UK FTA a total farce
4-Mar-2022 Scoop
People have only ten days to make submissions on the 1700-page secretly negotiated free trade agreement between New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Behind the ‘inclusive’ window dressing, the NZ-UK free trade deal disappoints politically and economically
4-Mar-2022 The Conversation
The free trade agreement between New Zealand and the United Kingdom demonstrates the intransigence of political leaders and their official advisers in the face of concerted demands to rethink the country’s trade policy paradigm.
Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) reform: Why it has failed to deliver on the EU’s own objectives
4-Mar-2022 Both Ends
From a climate perspective, the expected reform outcome is a failure. No Contracting Party will end investment protection for fossil fuels in a timeline that is necessary to align with the Paris Agreement.
Guatemalan water defenders celebrate 10 years of resistance
3-Mar-2022 Inequality.org
An attempted assassination, criminalization, and violent eviction in 2014 didn’t stop the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya in Guatemala, which won legal action suspending harmful mining activities.
Understanding the agricultural biotechnology provisions in the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement
3-Mar-2022 IATP
While industry lobbyists succeeded in convincing trade negotiators to include agricultural biotechnology provisions in the USMCA, they now misstate the scope of the text that was agreed to by Canada, Mexico and the US.
Civil society position on the East African Community (EAC)-European Union (EU) economic partnership agreement (EPA)
2-Mar-2022 Seatini
We the members of the East African Trade Network (EATN) call upon the Government of Tanzania and the East African Community (EAC) not to waver and be stampeded into signing the EPA.
A sea of trouble: Seabed mining and international arbitration in Mexico
2-Mar-2022 Inequality.org
In the Gulf of Ulloa, a US treasure-hunting company turned seabed mining outfit poses a dire risk to the environment.
Corporate courts can be beaten. It’s essential for climate justice
2-Mar-2022 Global Justice Now
It is perfectly possible to withdraw from trade deals containing corporate courts, as former South African trade minister Rob Davies explains.
NZ UK FTA “inclusive trade” agenda does nothing to redress failed free trade model
1-Mar-2022 Scoop
Professor Kelsey repeated the calls for a comprehensive rethink of this model of free trade agreements to confront the social, environmental and economic challenges of the 21st century.
Briefers on Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) vs Women’s Human Rights
1-Mar-2022 APWLD
APWLD is launching new Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) vs Women’s Human Rights briefers which elaborate on how ISDS is incompatible with human rights principles.
Decision by arbitral tribunal on deep sea mining impacts Mexican fisherfolk
25-Feb-2022 CIEL
The ICSID announced their rationale for a decision to reject a non-disputing party submission (amicus curiae) filed by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL).
The EU-Mercosur free trade agreement: A critical analysis and an alternative
23-Feb-2022 TNI
The EU-Mercosur trade agreement leads to the destruction of nature, violation of land rights of farmers and Indigenous people and loss of industrial jobs in the Mercosur countries.
A Koched-up NAFTA lawsuit
22-Feb-2022 CCPA
Koch claims that Ontario’s abrupt cancellation of its cap-and-trade system in 2018 violated the NAFTA Chapter 11 minimum standard of treatment and expropriation clauses.
Toxic mine to re-open after Australian gold miner sues Thai Government
15-Feb-2022 AFTINET
Environmental defenders in Thailand have slammed a decision by the Thai Government to reinstate formerly revoked mining licenses following a lengthy legal battle in an international arbitration tribunal.
Parliamentary committee recommends that UK and Taiwan should join the CPTPP, but not China
14-Feb-2022 AFTINET
Australian trade committee recommends that Australia support the applications of the UK and Taiwan, but places conditions on support for China’s accession.