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UK mulls fossil-friendly energy treaty pull-out
UK mulls fossil-friendly energy treaty pull-out
by AFP Staff Writers
London (AFP) Sept 1, 2023

The UK will review its membership of a 1990s-era energy treaty that shored up use of fossil fuels and could pull out if "vital modernisation" is not agreed, a minister said on Friday.

The British government's warning comes after the European Commission in July announced its plan for a "coordinated withdrawal" from the Energy Charter Treaty.

A deal aimed at maintaining the accord's current benefits while supporting the transition to cleaner energy was reached last year.

The modernised treaty -- with a stronger focus on promoting clean, affordable energy -- had been due to be adopted in November 2022.

But there has been stalemate among members over whether to move forward with the new terms.

"Rather than being stuck indefinitely with an outdated treaty, the UK wants to see an agreement on a modernised treaty as quickly as possible," Energy Security and Net Zero Minister Graham Stuart said in a statement.

"Countries around the world will be looking to boost their home-grown energy sources, including with new clean technologies -- the Energy Charter Treaty therefore must be modernised.

"That's why we will be reviewing our membership, and considering withdrawal if that vital modernisation is not agreed," he added.

The European Commission said in July it was proposing the whole EU pull out of the treaty.

The Energy Charter Treaty "is no longer compatible" with the European Union's goals on striving for a greener, carbon-neutral future, the commission said in a statement.

The treaty, which the EU and Euratom, the European atomic energy community, signed on to in 1994 came into effect in 1998 and currently has some 50 signatories.

Initially it sought to bring post-Soviet eastern European energy sectors into a cooperative framework with western European ones.

To do that, it allowed energy companies -- many of them using coal and other fossil fuels -- to sue governments over policies putting their investments at risk.

But as countries have shifted towards renewable and more sustainable energy sources, several European governments baulked at remaining part of the treaty.

Italy, which lost a costly arbitration case against a British oil company, Rockhopper, under the treaty, announced its withdrawal in 2015.

Other EU countries -- Germany, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain -- subsequently announced they would do the same, or were thinking of doing so.

That left the commission with no choice but to announce its plan for a "coordinated withdrawal".

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