Fossil Fuel ISDS Claims Reach $443.8 Billion, Groups Say

Global Justice Now, a British campaign group, and PowerShift, a German research organization, analyzed 987 publicly disclosed ISDS cases. Across those cases, corporate investors demanded $1.177 trillion through 2025—up $321 billion, or 37.5%, from the amount sought at the end of 2023, the groups said. They compared the total with global climate finance needs, including mitigation costs, for 2021-22.

Fossil fuel claims rose by $80 billion, or 22%, from 2023. Global Justice Now and PowerShift said the $443.8 billion demanded by fossil fuel investors equaled the estimated minimum economic losses developing countries will face from climate change in 2030. They also reported that investors were awarded $123 billion in ISDS cases last year; fossil fuel companies received $85.9 billion, almost 70% of all payouts.

Recent disputes include ExxonMobil’s challenge to the European Union’s Net Zero Industry Act. The company said the law, which requires it to pay for carbon storage, imposes “unrealistic timelines.” Last year, a UK mining company and its Singapore-based majority shareholder sued the British government for £300 million ($398 million) after officials blocked a planned coal mine in Cumbria.

Global Justice Now director Nick Dearden said ISDS agreements let companies “bully governments out of responding” to crises and drain public funds. PowerShift investment policy lead Fabian Flues called for governments to cancel agreements that allow fossil fuel investors to sue over climate policies. The groups’ Antalya event, scheduled for next Monday, is to include Vanuatu Climate Minister Ralph Regenvanu, representatives of affected communities and an Australian government official. Australia announced in 2022 that it would exclude ISDS from future trade deals; South Africa and Indonesia have also taken steps to free themselves from the system, Flues said.