Trade Justice Movement

Great briefing here highlighting the threat the ISDS system poses to the UK's ability to carry out an independent sanctions policy. That's potentially disastrous for security, foreign relations, tackling international crime.

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Top end of the TJM newsletter with the title: Trump, trade and the cost of secrecy

📧 New newsletter out now: Trump, trade and the cost of secrecy.

What power politics mean for UK trade policy, scrutiny and accountability, plus updates on #ISDS and the wider trade justice movement.

mailchi.mp/3d01775e893f...

Back in Parliament tonight to tell MPs we need to abolish ISDS - the toxic ‘corporate courts’ which allows oligarchs, multinationals and super rich investors to subvert our democracy. #ISDSfree

Great meeting @tradejusticemov.bsky.social

Global civil society statement on Trump’s trade threats - Trade Justice Movement Trump is using tariffs and trade threats to bully other countries in order to maintain US global power. Even though existing trade rules were shaped by US corporations, recently this hasn’t been enoug...

Trade is again being used as a tool of coercion.

Trump is using tariffs and trade threats to bully countries into changing laws to suit US corporate interests. A global civil society statement calls for resistance and a fairer trade system.

We’ve signed on:
tjm.org.uk/global-civil...

The UK is being sued by Russian oligarchs and coal mine investors - this cannot continue | Parliament Politics Magazine Last week I learned that the UK government is currently fighting two investor lawsuits: one from a sanctioned Russian oligarch challenging our economic

The UK is being sued by Russian oligarchs and coal mine investors.

Martin Rhodes MP argues this cannot continue and questions whether #ISDS is compatible with the UK’s climate commitments, sanctions regime and democratic decision making.

parliamentnews.co.uk/the-uk-is-be...

56 academics warn corporate lawsuits threaten UK climate action - Trade Justice Movement With the UK government being sued for taking climate action by investors behind the scrapped West Cumbria coal mine, a group of 56 senior UK academics including Professors Ha-Joon Chang, Mariana Mazzu...

Organised by Prof. J Harrison @uni-of-warwick.bsky.social.

Signatories include Ha-Joon Chang @soasuni.bsky.social, @mazzucatom.bsky.social and Kojo Koram @lborouniversity.bsky.social, alongside leading experts from universities across the UK.

Read more 👇
tjm.org.uk/56-academics...

📢 56 academics warn corporate lawsuits threaten UK climate action

As the UK is sued over the blocked West Cumbria coal mine, academics warn that ISDS lets investors challenge climate action in private tribunals.

📄 Read the open letter 👇

UK–South Korea trade deal raises concerns over tech regulation and investment protection - Trade Justice Movement Following the announcement of an update to the UK–South Korea free trade agreement, the Trade Justice Movement has raised concerns about the implications of the deal on the UK’s freedom to regulate co...

🇬🇧🇰🇷 The UK and South Korea have signed an upgraded trade deal.

We are concerned about what this means for the UK’s ability to regulate fast-moving technologies like #AI, and for its exposure to corporate lawsuits through #ISDS.

Full response 👇 tjm.org.uk/uk-south-kor...

There’s a new open-access platform on environmental goods and trade.

The EGS Trade Hub brings together research, policy and data to support informed debate and evidence-based policymaking.

Worth exploring!
➡️ egstradehub.org

What will be the cost of Keir Starmer’s new medicines deal with Donald Trump? British lives | Aditya Chakrabortty More than £3bn that could have been used for UK patients will go to big pharma for its branded products, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty

"An organisation devoted to saving lives is now being used as part of trade deals, its precious resources and structural integrity haggled away to multinational companies and foreign bullies."

Brilliant and harrowing from Aditya Chakrabortty in @theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Piégés par leurs vieux traités avec la Russie, les Européens sous la menace de lourdes pénalités financières Un rapport alerte sur le risque que font peser sur l’Union européenne les procédures d’arbitrage lancées par les oligarques et entreprises russes visés par des sanctions.

Les cas d'arbitrage d'investissement #ISDS connus (et les menaces de recours) déposés par des personnes et entités sous sanctions atteignent déjà 62 Mds $. Un montant qui se rapproche des 70 Mds d’aide militaire que l’UE a fourni à l’Ukraine depuis 2022.
www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeur...

Billion-dollar investor legal cases undermine sanctions and Ukraine’s defence - Trade Justice Movement Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever’s refusal to use immobilised Russian assets held at Euroclear for fear of legal claims exposes how investment treaties can constrain governments at a critical mome...

Sanctioned oligarchs are using #ISDS to challenge sanctions and undermine support for Ukraine.

Our new joint analysis explains the 28 cases and 62bn USD at stake:

tjm.org.uk/billion-doll...

How billion-dollar investor arbitrations undermine sanctions & Ukraine’s defense An analysis of publicly-disclosed claims conducted by civil society organisations reveals that 28 investment arbitration cases (including threats) have been initiated by sanctioned oligarchs or compan...

Russian oligarchs are launching massive challenges to EU sanctions in secretive tribunals

Our 🆕 joint analysis found🕴️28 cases or threats 💸 for a total of $62bn in claims

How a system built to “protect” investors is now undermining sanctions & Ukraine’s defence👉 friendsoftheearth.eu/press-releas...

Top end of TJM newsletter with logo and title (UK faces lawsuits from a Russian oligarch and coal mine investors via investment agreements)

Our December newsletter is out, with updates on:

• ⚖️ ISDS, including 2 cases against the UK 🤯
• 🇮🇳 UK–India trade talks
• 🪨 Critical minerals strategy
• 🗣️ Public attitudes to trade
• 🌐 Other trade justice news

👉https://mailchi.mp/da09533539e2/tjm-newsletter-october-21469804?e=596e56fafb

US and UK agree zero-tariffs on pharmaceuticals In return, the UK government has agreed to increase the baseline threshold used to assess if medicines are cost-effective.

Giving in to big pharma’s demands to hike the price of medicines spells disaster for our NHS, and for the lives of ordinary people.

We are being held to ransom.

Our government must stand up to big pharma and for our NHS by reversing course.

news.sky.com/story/us-and...

Hello, foreign oligarchs and corporations! Please come and sue the UK for billions | George Monbiot The case of a planned Cumbrian coalmine shows how governments around the world are being threatened by litigation in shadowy offshore courts, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

ISDS in trade treaties lets foreign investors sue states in secretive arbitration courts, overriding domestic decisions.

The UK gains nothing from #ISDS, yet still includes it. And now the risk has become real: the UK is facing two ISDS claims.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Cherie Blair Is Working for a Russian Oligarch Who Is Now Suing British and Luxemburg Governments in Corporate Court EXCLUSIVE: Putin ally Mikhail Fridman is using a controversial corporate court mechanism to challenge UK and Luxemburg sanctions

Sanctioned investor Mikhail Fridman is suing the UK through secret corporate courts while already suing Luxembourg.

@thomaswills.bsky.social: "#ISDS gives wealthy investors a private legal backdoor to challenge democratic decisions."

bylinetimes.com/2025/11/28/c...

ISDS overview: how corporate courts threaten climate action and democracy - Trade Justice Movement Investor–State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) is a controversial mechanism built into many trade and investment agreements. It allows foreign investors to challenge government decisions that affect their p...

Most people have never heard of #ISDS, yet it gives corporations access to secret corporate courts to challenge public-interest decisions.

It threatens climate action, drains public funds, undermines democracy and gives investors special rights.

Read our explainer: tjm.org.uk/resource/isd...

Trade and climate are deeply connected.

The COP29–30 Roadmap notes that older investment treaties with Investor–State Dispute Settlement (#ISDS) can limit climate action, with over USD 83bn already awarded in related cases.

Good to see this recognised at COP level.

unfccc.int/sites/defaul...

The UK’s critical minerals strategy falls short on rights and climate - Trade Justice Movement The UK government has published its long-delayed Critical Minerals Strategy. Ministers present the plan as a route to security and resilience, but it reinforces an extractive, corporate-first model th...

The UK’s Critical Minerals Strategy does not put human rights or climate first.

@thomaswills.bsky.social "Critical minerals are essential for the transition, but the gov’s plan is about securing access for UK industry, not safeguarding communities or the climate."

tjm.org.uk/the-uks-crit...

UK being sued by sanctioned Russian oligarch under secret court system - Trade Justice Movement A Parliamentary Question answered on 18 November 2025 has announced that the UK is currently facing two legal cases under the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system. This includes hitherto un...

A Parliamentary Question has revealed that a sanctioned Russian oligarch is taking the UK to a secret corporate court.

#ISDS lets sanctioned individuals challenge UK national security decisions. It has no place in a democracy.

Read TJM’s statement:
tjm.org.uk/uk-being-sue...

As #COP30 focuses on the Amazon, new research shows governments can still face #ISDS claims for taking climate action.

218 oil & gas projects are covered by treaties enabling these challenges.

We cannot protect the Amazon while these rules remain.

www.bu.edu/gdp/2025/11/...

A scandal waiting to happen A case almost unknown to the British public raises profound questions of justice in the UK.

The UK is being sued for blocking a coal mine. Not in a British court but in a secretive tribunal.

A case almost unknown to the British public raises profound questions of justice.

“A scandal waiting to happen.” J. Goldsmith @lawsocietygazette.bsky.social

www.lawgazette.co.uk/commentary-a...

Resource disputes between investors and states hit 10-year high Disagreements between governments and investors over resources are at a 10-year high, law firm DLA Piper said, driven by resource nationalism and growing competition between the U.S. and China for critical minerals.

Investor–state disputes (ISDS) over natural resources have reached their highest level in a decade.

A sign of deepening tensions over who controls the world’s minerals, and why that matters.

#StopISDS

www.reuters.com/business/aut...

Great to see @oxfaminternational.bsky.social’s new #ClimatePlunder report exposing ISDS: secret corporate courts letting fossil fuel companies sue governments for taking climate action 🌍💡.

Time to reject ISDS & put people and the planet first. #StopISDS

policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/cl...

How Europe Can Expand Digital Trade to Challenge Big Tech’s Anti-Regulatory Push | TechPolicy.Press European leaders must take the lead in imposing checks on Big Tech, and by extension, the US chokehold over the global digital economy, writes Audrey Stienon.

Big tech frames regulation as a trade barrier, but the danger isn’t regulation, it’s letting tech giants set the agenda.

Governments need the freedom to regulate digital markets.

Read more in this piece by @astienon.bsky.social:

www.techpolicy.press/how-europe-c...

Pleased to see our very own George Holt join Alan Winters, Liam Campling and host @chrishorseman.bsky.social to unpack what the British public really thinks about trade 🎧👇

We stand with CAN-UK and over 45 orgs calling on the UK to champion an ambitious just transition at #COP30.

We support the call for a Belém Action Mechanism (#BAM), to embed fairness and better lives for everyone into climate action, at home and globally.

📄 Read the full letter: t.co/oeBSVqEste

Starting in an hour!

Highly recommend joining below webinar if you want to dig deeper into #ISDS reform and how it links to investment treaties, climate, democracy and human rights.

📅 Hosted by @clientearth.bsky.social and @iisd.org