International Investment Law

In the last couple of years, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has become a hotspot for rights-based climate change litigation. At the time of writing, seven cases are pending before the Court, with applicants seeking to challenge various aspects of domestic climate change laws and policies in the various respondent states, arguing that they violate their human rights protected by the Convention. On the 21st of June 2022, news broke that yet another case would be lodged before the Court. The case, however, is distinct from the others, in the sense that it targets state membership in an international agreement, namely the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), on the grounds that it unjustly protects fossil fuel investors. The case (the ‘ECT case’) is the first before the Court to draw links between human rights, investment law, and climate change. This post seeks to situate such a claim in the context of cases currently pending before the ECtHR and highlights the challenges that applicants may come to face in their efforts.