investor-state disputes | ISDS


Third-party funder is the only winner in Odyssey Marine Exploration’s suit against Mexico
The country will likely have to pay over $30 million to an American litigation firm because it wanted to protect its environment from harmful seabed mining.
Labour unions express concerns about proposed free trade agreement with Ecuador
We are writing on behalf of Canadian unions that are deeply concerned about the current negotiations for a free trade agreement with Ecuador.
Indonesia and Switzerland seeks to accelerate investments under new bilateral investment treaty
The 2022 BIT offers several important advances compared to the 1974 BIT, providing greater certainty and protection for investors.
After intra-EU BITs and the ECT, the EU needs to abandon extra-EU BITs—for legal, energy and climate policy, and political economy reasons
EU members should terminate extra-EU BITs. To facilitate the process, the EU could spearhead an instrument similar to the plurilateral agreement to terminate intra-EU BITs or based on the draft treaty language on termination proposed to UNCITRAL.
French court clears Cyprus on FBME case
France’s highest court has brought an end to the $1.4 billion legal battle over the resolution of FBME Bank, ruling that the Central Bank of Cyprus acted prudently and did not breach any obligations under a bilateral investment treaty between Cyprus and Lebanon.
ExxonMobil sues the Netherlands over gas field closure
The multinational disagrees with the decision that gas production in the Dutch province of Groningen will be shut down early.
Breaking free: Strategies for governments on terminating investment treaties and removing ISDS provisions
In this report, we present three practical approaches governments can consider in the near term to address their current stock of international investment agreements with ISDS.
Australian mining firm trumps Poland in arbitration
Invoking the Australia-Poland bilateral investment treaty, together with the Energy Charter Treaty, Green X has been awarded hundreds of millions of dollars over a thwarted mining project.
Scrap the UK-Colombia investment treaty: how corporate courts let UK companies undermine human rights and the environment
In October 2024, the Colombia-UK Bilateral Investment Treaty reaches the end of its initial ten-year term. The UK and Colombian governments now have the opportunity to work together to terminate the treaty.
The surge in ISDS damages paid to global corporations, mostly by poor countries
A UNCTAD note has highlighted the significant growth in damages in Investor-State Dispute Settlement. The average award size grew tenfold in the past three decades.