The European Commission has proposed a “coordinated and orderly” withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) for EU member countries, and Express.co.uk readers have urged the UK to follow, a new poll has found.
The ECT was founded in the 1990s to protect western energy-sector investments in former Soviet Union countries but now also protects investors in renewable energy.
The treaty was signed by more than 50 countries but critics argue the “climate-wrecking” treaty is now outdated.
The UK’s Climate Change Committee has called for Britain to withdraw from the ECT to stop it from delaying vital climate change action.
The latest report by the Committee, said: “The UK should announce intent to withdraw from the ECT [as] continued membership represents risks to both a timely climate transition and to the taxpayer.”
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In a poll that ran from 3.30pm on Monday, July 10, to 1.45pm on Tuesday, July 11, Express.co.uk asked readers: “Should the UK quit ‘climate-wrecking’ energy treaty?”
Overall, 2,022 votes were received with the vast majority of readers, 83 percent (1,674 people), answering “yes” the UK should leave. While 15 percent (303 people) said “no” and a further two percent (45 people) said they did not know.
Dozens of comments were left below the accompanying article as readers shared their thoughts on the UK’s future in the ECT.
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Many readers argued that the UK should leave, with username fedupwiththewokenezz remarking: “Yes we should definitely quit.”
While username macbookpro agreed, writing: “The UK should of course withdraw from the ECT.”
But leaving the treaty will not be easy, as a sunset clause means lawsuits can be filed for 20 years after a member leaves.
The Climate Change Committee said that “a critical mass of exiting parties” would bring “bargaining power” which could neutralise the clause and the UK could help negotiate this alongside the EU.
Whereas other readers thought that the UK should stay in the ECT, arguing against climate change. Username Babyboomer said: “Stay in it. Climate change is the biggest con we have ever experienced.”
And username phil1236 wrote: “The sooner this woke net zero scam is exposed for what it is the better, so stay in this treaty as long as possible.”
Head of international affairs at the Swiss energy ministry, Jean-Christophe Fueg, said that investors in Switzerland “value the ECT” and warned not all countries want to leave the pact. He told the Financial Times: “Waiving one’s own investment-protection rights by withdrawing makes little sense.”
He explained that the bloc’s withdrawal could lead to the ECT “imploding” meaning countries that want to remain cannot work to modernise the treaty.
A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “The UK has been a strong advocate for modernising the ECT, recognising the need to align it with modern energy priorities, international treaty practice and international commitments on climate change. We continue to monitor developments of the evolving situation.”
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