Reimagining Trade and Investment through a Feminist Lens

Today, Both ENDS and SOMO are publishing the report Phasing out ISDS in the Netherlands: a roadmap. In the report, we highlight the Netherlands’ role in the ISDS system and offer practical guidance on phasing out ISDS.

This week, Minister Sjoerdsma organized roundtable conversations with civil society organizations – a valuable initiative that brings together Dutch civil society voices to address critical challenges faced by democratic societies.

Through its new project “Climate Accountability in EU Trade: Testing the SEP and DAGs for Climate-Linked FTA Enforcement” Both ENDS, with support from the European Climate Foundation, is exploring how the European complaints mechanism (SEP) and Domestic Advisory Groups (DAGs) can be more effectively used to advance climate accountability. The project runs for 13 months, until end of 2026.

In recent years, Both ENDS has received an additional contribution of €875,000 from the Postcode Lottery for the Autonomy & Resilience Fund (2022–2025), implemented in collaboration with the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA). This support was essential because female environmental rights defenders around the world are increasingly facing climate change, repression and shrinking civil space. With this contribution, Both ENDS supports female activists and their communities with flexible, trust-based funding, enabling them to develop their own solutions to urgent environmental and climate problems.

Shell is suing the Netherlands in yet another attempt to evade its responsibility for decades of gas extraction in Groningen. For years, gas production has triggered earthquakes, damaged over a hundred thousand homes, and left residents living in prolonged insecurity, still waiting for repairs, reinforcement, and justice.

Standing in Belém during COP30, I felt the weight of the moment. We came to the Amazon hoping for decisive progress on phasing out fossil fuels, yet the final outcome fell far short of the ambition science and justice demand. The agreement brought welcome commitments on adaptation finance and global indicators, but it refused to confront the structural forces that make climate action so difficult.

SOMO and Both ENDS strongly condemn the newly revealed investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) case filed by Petrogas, an Omani oil and gas company operating two shallow-water gas fields in the Dutch North Sea, against the Netherlands under the Netherlands-Oman bilateral investment treaty (BIT).

Both ENDS is present at COP30 to advocate for genuine access to climate finance for locally led, gender-just climate solutions and the mechanisms that facilitate this, including those for farmer-led restoration. Furthermore, the organisation participates to ensure the crucial connection between the climate negotiations and the trade and investment frameworks that shape them.

Learn more about the Both ENDS team at COP30 below, and find all the activities and side-events in which Both ENDS will participate.

Both ENDS is present at COP30 to advocate for genuine access to climate finance for locally led, gender-just climate solutions, and for the mechanisms that make these possible, including those supporting farmer-led restoration. The organisation also engages to highlight the crucial connection between climate negotiations and the trade and investment frameworks that shape them.

Below is an overview of the Both ENDS team at COP30 and a detailed look at the activities and side-events in which Both ENDS will participate.