60 years of Dutch investment treaties is no cause for celebration
The Netherlands celebrates 60 years of bilateral investment treaties on 23 May. In 1963, the Netherlands concluded its first treaty with Tunisia. These treaties should play an important role in protecting foreign investments by Dutch…
Fintech’s red flags
Fintech is expanding – and so are the risks
Fintech – the use of technology to deliver financial services – is expanding globally. Millions of people now use financial technology applications and tools on a regular basis and access services. Yet, as SOMO’s new…
SOMO is delighted to welcome Fernanda Hopenhaym as the newest member of its Supervisory Board.
Fernanda Hopenhaym is the Co-Executive Director of the Project on Organizing, Development, Education and Research (PODER), an organisation in Latin America dedicated to corporate accountability. She is an expert on the impacts of corporations on…
How Mozambique’s tax treaties enable tax avoidance
Tax treaties deprive Mozambique of hundreds of millions of US dollars
Mozambique’s tax treaty network is depriving the country of hundreds of millions of US dollars in tax revenue each year, particularly through its treaties with Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Seventy percent of…
Sex for a tea job: the abuse continues
New investigations by the BBC show that managers at two of the biggest tea farms in Kenya, James Finlay Kenya and Ekaterra, continue to demand sex from women in exchange for work. SOMO researcher Sanne…
Can the EU protect citizens from Amazon’s deal to buy eyes inside our homes?
How much of Shell’s 2022 record profits will be registered in tax havens? Probably quite a lot.
Shell announced it made a record, eye-watering, $39.9 billion profits in 2022, as the world is facing multiple global crises. Analysis of Shell’s tax transparency reports over the past several years show that a substantial…
New UK legal case on Niger Delta oil spills – a litmus test for justice in the energy transition
Dutch court dismisses damage claims by RWE and Uniper
The Dutch government will not have to pay damages to energy giants RWE and Uniper, a Dutch court in The Hague ruled today. The energy companies had filed claims of EUR 1.4 billion and EUR…
NGOs are calling on EU vice president Frans Timmermans to withdraw from the ECT
Slovenia, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Poland and Germany want to exit the Energy Charter Treaty as it is not in line with Paris climate goals. Twelve organizations, including SOMO, are calling on Frans Timmermans and…
Governments should remove the threat of ISDS to climate goals
As the UN climate conference COP 27 is in full swing, over 350 organisations in more then 60 countries call on governments to commit to remove the threat that ISDS poses to climate goals by…
COP27: EU adoption of a “modernised” Energy Charter Treaty would open door to more climate chaos
The Netherlands wants to exit Energy Charter Treaty
In a parliamentary debate on Tuesday, Dutch minister of Energy and Climate Rob Jetten spoke out in favour of exiting the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). In doing so, he responded to a broad call from…
Even a modernised Energy Charter Treaty is a hurdle to reach climate goals
Urgent call to the Dutch government: exit the Energy Charter Treaty now
Urgenda, SOMO, Greenpeace, the Dutch labour union FNV and eight other organisations are appealing urgently to the Dutch government to “join as many countries as possible in stepping out of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT)”….