At the start of the 2019 World Economic Forum in Davos, The European Environmental Bureau and 150+ other European organisations, trade unions and social movements launch a new trade and corporate accountability campaign called “Rights for People and Rules for Corporations – Stop ISDS”.

In today’s international system, corporations benefit from far reaching super-rights and have access to special tribunals to enforce them. Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) allows them to attack states outside of national courts whenever these states adopt legislation that could harm their profits. This mechanism threatens democratic decision making, the rule of law, human rights, the environment, health, public services, gender equality, as well as consumer and labour rights.

Meanwhile, there are still no binding international obligations to make transnational corporations (TNCs) accountable for their deeds and ensure respect of human, labour and environmental rights. Affected individuals and communities often face a denial of justice when TNCs violate their rights. This is an appalling asymmetry.

In Europe, the TTIP and CETA movements put the ISDS mechanism in the spotlight and exposed its illegitimacy. We want to end this unfair system once and for all, stop its expansion in any form, and terminate existing treaties containing ISDS.

New rules are also needed to keep corporations accountable and shift the balance of power to people and the planet. There is momentum to adopt such rules at the national, European and UN level. We call on states to support the UN Binding Treaty on Transnational Corporations and Human Rights currently under negotiations, and to enact European legislation defining the duties of transnational corporations throughout their supply chain, as well as ensuring access to justice for victims of corporate malpractice.

We call on everyone to sign and share the below petition.