British oil company Cairn Energy sued India and won over $1 billion (£740 million) of its public money. Why? Because India tried to stop Cairn from tax dodging. And now, if the UK has its way, British companies will be able to bully foreign countries for billions more.
How is this possible? Because of ISDS (Investor-State Dispute Settlement) – the fossil fuel industry’s secret weapon. ISDS is a clause in trade deals. It allows corporations to sue countries in secretive ‘corporate courts’, when governments implement policies corporations don’t like – policies which protect human rights or the environment, or aim to stop corporate tax dodging.
When India clamped down on Cairn’s tax dodging, the oil company successfully sued India via ISDS clauses in the UK-India deal. The tax that Cairn dodged was money owed to India – which it could have invested in tackling the climate crisis.
Although India eventually pulled out of the UK-India deal, the UK is now pushing India to sign a new deal that includes ISDS. If agreed, this would put both the UK and India at risk of being sued by fossil fuel and other big corporations.
Countries around the world, from Ecuador to Australia, are beginning to abandon ISDS. In 2024, the UK left the Energy Charter Treaty – the world’s most used treaty containing ISDS clauses – because of the threat it posed to the UK’s transition away from fossil fuels.
Despite this progress, the UK government has committed to including ISDS in its future trade deals – not just with India.
The UK must prioritise people and the planet over corporate profits. Sign the petition today: demand an end to ISDS.
