Trade Justice Movement
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Trade Justice Movement
@tradejusticemov.bsky.social
TJM is a UK-based coalition of trade unions, NGOs, fair trade and faith groups pushing for trade justice.

Newsletter sign up: http://tinyurl.com/ye2kt338
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...
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...
tjm.org.uk
November 27, 2025 at 1:27 PM
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...
unfccc.int
November 25, 2025 at 5:03 PM
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...
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...
tjm.org.uk
November 24, 2025 at 2:09 PM
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...
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...
tjm.org.uk
November 20, 2025 at 11:47 AM
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/...
Defunding the Amazon: Mapping ISDS Risk from the Oil and Gas Sector in Amazonian Countries | Global Development Policy Center
www.bu.edu
November 13, 2025 at 11:15 AM
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...
A scandal waiting to happen
A case almost unknown to the British public raises profound questions of justice in the UK.
www.lawgazette.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 10:57 AM
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...
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.
www.reuters.com
November 4, 2025 at 10:38 AM
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...
Climate Plunder: How a powerful few are locking the world into disaster - Oxfam Policy & Practice
Ahead of the major international climate conference COP30 in Belem, Brazil, new Oxfam research finds that the high-carbon lifestyles of the super-rich are blowing through the world’s remaining carbon ...
policy-practice.oxfam.org
November 3, 2025 at 2:16 PM
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...
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.
www.techpolicy.press
October 21, 2025 at 9:50 AM
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 🎧👇
October 21, 2025 at 9:19 AM
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
October 14, 2025 at 11:01 AM
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
📅 Join us on October 9 for the second session of our webinar series with @clientearth.bsky.social exploring ongoing multilateral reform of #investment legal frameworks—investment treaties and contracts—and #ISDS.

Register now ➡️ https://bit.ly/4mcV3AR
October 9, 2025 at 10:15 AM
📩 Our October newsletter is out!

Trade turbulence continues: new ministers, old problems.

We unpack what the UK’s new trade leadership means, and how the country’s first #ISDS case shows corporate courts can obstruct climate action and democracy.

👉 Read more: mailchi.mp/2798be4a446e...
October 7, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Dr Patricia Ranald highlights how Palmer’s claims expose the absurdity of ISDS: secret tribunals, no independent judges, no appeals, and giving investors special rights to sue govts over public interest laws.

#ISDS is a threat to democracy & climate.

🔗 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Clive Palmer’s multibillion dollar claims make a mockery of a tribunal that allows foreign investors to challenge court decisions | Patricia Ranald
The billionaire’s last three cases are part of a growing global list from fossil fuel companies against government decisions to reduce carbon emissions
www.theguardian.com
September 30, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Another billionaire tries (and fails) to use investor–state dispute settlement (#ISDS) to squeeze money from a government.

Clive Palmer’s case was dismissed, and he’s ordered to pay $13m.

These corporate courts don’t belong in a fair trade system.

🔗 www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Clive Palmer ordered to pay $13m after claim of being ‘foreign investor’ in Australian mining project thrown out
Attorney general says mining magnate is ‘not a foreign investor’ and is ‘not entitled to any benefits under Australia’s free trade and investment agreements’
www.theguardian.com
September 29, 2025 at 9:12 AM
The new UK-US Tech Prosperity MoU is an opaque stitch-up, negotiated behind closed doors.

It risks a giveaway to US Big Tech & undermines democracy, oversight & regulation.

Read our full statement: tjm.org.uk/new-uk-us-te...
New UK-US tech MoU “an opaque stitch-up” - Trade Justice Movement
The Trade Justice Movement is highlighting the risks of the secretive UK-US Tech Prosperity Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) announced today. It is being promoted as a major boost in AI, quantum comp...
tjm.org.uk
September 18, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Investors can use old treaties to challenge democratically-agreed decisions on climate, sanctions, or security ... and claim billions. #ISDS puts profits first.

Read more ⬇️
🆕 stories show how old investment treaties still roll out the red carpet for investors to sue EU countries over sanctions against aggressive regimes, national security, climate laws, tax policies …

This secretive #ISDS system puts profits above democracy. Read more 👉 10isdsstories.org #StopISDS
September 18, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Farage’s US testimony warns of “authoritarian” UK rules and the arrest of social media users.

But, what’s at stake is how trade deals & digital taxes could shape online safety.

www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Nigel Farage tells Congress: UK has ‘become North Korea’
The Reform leader told US politicians that Britain has fallen into an ‘awful authoritarian situation’ and highlighted cases of Graham Linehan and Lucy Connolly
www.thetimes.com
September 4, 2025 at 3:13 PM
🚨 The UK is on the verge of signing a trade deal with Gulf states that puts human rights at risk.

Together with 13 other organisations, we’ve sent a joint letter urging the UK government to act. 🧵⬇️
September 1, 2025 at 3:04 PM
We've joined 22 other NGOs to reiterate UN calls for legal consequences for companies involved in human rights violations against the Palestinian people.

Read more and see the full statement:
corporatejusticecoalition.org/news/press/c...
August 28, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Fossil fuel giants are suing governments at record levels to block climate laws.

Already 22 new #ISDS cases this year, and we’re only in August. 😱

These secret corporate courts jeopardise global climate action.

👉 Read this detailed @ftm.eu article:

www.ftm.eu/articles/fos...
Record number of corporate lawsuits target climate action in controversial tribunal
Behind closed doors in Washington, D.C., fossil fuel and mining companies are suing governments over lost profits. Follow the Money has analysed how a system built to protect foreign investors poses a...
www.ftm.eu
August 28, 2025 at 8:52 AM
The UK is being sued by fossil fuel investors over the High Court's decision to block a coal mine in Cumbria.

This is the ISDS system in action: a parallel system where investors can challenge government policies, even over something as vital as climate action.

icsid.worldbank.org/cases/case-d...
Case Details | ICSID
icsid.worldbank.org
August 11, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Our August newsletter is out now!

• Labour’s first year: why its Trade Strategy still looks worryingly familiar
• US tariff threats to the Global South
• How the energy transition risks becoming a dirty deal
• Plus lots more updates

📩 Read it here: tinyurl.com/yrybbvre
August 7, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Reposted by Trade Justice Movement
“Trump’s tariffs exemplify the economic dominance long exercised by the Global North to Southern Africa as a continuation of colonialism."

ACTSA joined @tradejusticemov.bsky.social in calling on the UK to support the Global South in the face of incoming trade tariffs & implement fairer trade itself
"UK must stand with Global South against unfair US trade tactics" - ACTSA joins civil society call
Ahead of Trump's new tariffs which will hit Southern Africa hard, ACTSA and other organisations have sent an open letter to the UK government to support the Global South against unfair US trade tactic...
actsa.org
July 30, 2025 at 4:25 PM