ECT boss accuses EU of protecting fossil fuels by blocking reforms

(Climate Home News, 17 Feb 2023) The head of an energy investment treaty has warned the European Union that protections for fossil fuels will be locked in if the bloc leaves the treaty without signing off on green reforms.

The European Commission has proposed a mass exit from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) on climate grounds, as the treaty has allowed fossil fuel companies to sue governments over climate action.

But the treaty’s head Guy Lentz wrote an angry letter to the president of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola on Monday, arguing that leaving the treaty without reforming it would actually give more power to fossil fuel companies.

Lentz accused the European Union of inconsistency, spreading misinformation. He also warned that the EU exiting the treaty before it is modernised will prolong investment protections for fossil fuels in Europe and elsewhere.

Friends of the Earth campaigner Paul de Clerck accused Lentz of “a rather desperate attempt” to stop the EU leaving the ECT. “Guy Lentz and the ECT missed the boat and now try to call it back, but that will not work,” he told Climate Home.

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Climate Home News, 17 Feb 2023: ECT boss accuses EU of protecting fossil fuels by blocking reforms