Civil society organizations urge fundamental reform at UNCITRAL’s ISDS discussions

Today more than 300 civil society groups and trade unions – including global organizations such as Public Services International, Friends of the Earth International, ActionAid and SOMO– urged governments participating in United Nations meetings in Vienna this week to completely overhaul the controversial Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system contained within many international trade and investment agreements.

This public letter (opens in new window) is the latest example of a growing backlash against ISDS that the European Commission admitted had become “the most toxic acronym in Europe,” during the controversial U.S.-EU trade talks. As the number of ISDS cases filed each year has exploded and corporations have won billions of dollars in attacks on a stunning array of environmental, health, and other public interest laws, governments from South Africa to Indonesia have terminated many of their treaties that include ISDS. Even the United States, Mexico, and Canada have agreed to roll back ISDS in the new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).