Switzerland says won’t follow EU out of beleaguered Energy Charter Treaty

Bern said it will not join the European Union’s proposed mass exit from a controversial energy investment protection treaty, sparking fears that fossil fuel companies will use Switzerland as a rear base to keep suing governments over climate action.

This week, the European Commission proposed a joint EU exit from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), saying continued protection for fossil fuel investments risks slowing down climate action, Euractiv reports.

The United Kingdom, which is still a member of the ECT, said it is “closely monitoring the situation”.

But the Swiss energy ministry’s Jean-Christophe Fueeg told Climate Home his country, which is not an EU member state, is not leaving.

The Swiss position has sparked fears that fossil fuel companies will restructure their investments through Switzerland in order to keep suing governments over climate action.

E3G campaigner Jonny Peters said: “As the EU looks set to exit the Energy Charter Treaty, there is certainly a risk of companies and law firms treaty shopping [in] Switzerland.”

We’re not leaving

The Swiss energy ministry’s head of international energy affairs Jean-Christophe Fueeg told Climate Home on Thursday: “No change in Switzerland’s position, especially given that the EU has not come to a position yet.”

Over the last few years, Switzerland has not supported the EU’s push to remove fossil fuel protections from the ECT and did not join the EU and UK in last year announcing a phase-out of fossil fuel protections under the treaty.

Fueeg added: “Just as food for thought: Would you think that Swiss investors, who have billions of assets in the EU (much of it in renewables), would appreciate seeing their investors’ protection rights waived by a Swiss exit?”

Friends of the Earth campaigner Paul De Clerck told Climate Home the treaty is “by no means crucial for renewable investors” and its “main goal is still the protection of fossil fuels”.