The Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic is planning to reduce access to information about the Integrated Pollution Register (IPR), which has been functioning very well for the last 6 years. With that register, the Czech Republic—unlike some other countries—has an efficient instrument to control the implementation of international conventions regarding environmental protection, such as the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
Last week, the European Commission presented a proposal to reform the Investor-to-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), which forms part of the draft text for Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the USA. Yet, it is fraught with problems, as those few adjustments do not even address the heart of the ISDS-problem.
Local organisations and groups must be given access to climate finance from the Green Climate Fund. They know exactly what is happening in their local context and what is required for climate adaptation.
The Transnational Institute (TNI) published a useful pocket guide regarding the euro crisis. They believe a crisis that started in Wall Street was actually made worse by EU policies. The pocket guide describes how the crisis has enriched the 1% to the detriment of the 99% and it outlines some possible solutions that prioritise people and the environment above corporate profits. This Pocket Guide is published as part of TNI's Economic Justice, Corporate Power and Alternatives programme.
In 1959, Germany and Pakistan signed the first Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) in the world. Without knowing, they marked a new era as many countries have followed their example since then. Currently, the international legal system that governs international investment flows consists of about 3000 BITs and other international investment agreements (IIAs). While originally these treaties were thought to be beneficial for the investor and the host state in terms of economic growth, increased foreign investment and development, many host states have suffered negative consequences instead of benefiting from them.
The U.S. is not always in the front line when it comes to the protection of human rights and the environment in developing countries, but there are exceptions. The Netherlands has recently joined the ‘climate initiative’ of President Obama, which aims at ending the public funding of coal plants. But the U.S. is going even further than that: under the ‘Appropriations Bill’, U.S. directors at international financial institutions have to vote against projects that support large dams and industrial logging or mining projects in tropical forests. We are calling on Dutch Minister Ploumen to follow the U.S. example!