Our chance to make sure no one is sued for acting on climate change

Dear friends,
This is outrageous -- just as many countries are finally acting to stop climate change and protect the planet, fossil fuel giants are suing governments for billions.

It all happens because of a powerful international treaty that almost no one has heard of: the Energy Charter Treaty.

It was designed to encourage energy companies to invest in developing economies, but now it's being weaponised to sue countries when they try to shut down toxic coal plants and oil rigs -- wrecking our transition to 100% clean energy. Companies have already won over $50 Billion from taxpayer funds -- and more and more countries are still getting caught in the trap.

But finally there’s a plan to scrap it. Italy has already withdrawn, and now France, Spain and others are calling for the treaty to go. If we champion their call with a 1-million strong petition, it could fuel a major revolt at critical negotiations next week. This is our chance to make sure no one is sued for acting on climate change:

Sign to stop this toxic treaty now
https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/energy_charter_treaty_91/?bvjguib&v=131824&cl=18021641825&_checksum=0940b91ebf0398411417e6564a67675015426e510e8b054c836f494ffaa6922a
This terrible treaty is basically the exact opposite of the Paris Climate Agreement. It punishes governments for moving off fossil fuels, and keeps us marching into a deadly future of drowning cities, wildfires, and a catastrophic loss of life.

Take Italy: When it banned oil drilling off its coast, a British company sued the government for almost $300 million -- nine times more than the company had even invested. That's precious tax money that could otherwise have been used for renewable energy, schools, or hospitals.

And so no matter where you are in the world, this treaty affects you. To beat climate change, we need a huge global transition to green energy -- but if some countries are being held back, the entire global effort is sabotaged.

Insiders from opposing countries tell us that strong public support could tip the balance ahead of a critical meeting in days, and get a critical mass of countries to quit the treaty. So let's make it happen -- sign now and Avaaz will deliver our voices directly to key leaders, and with an ad in one of Europe’s top media outlets:
Sign to stop this toxic treaty now
https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/energy_charter_treaty_91/?bvjguib&v=131824&cl=18021641825&_checksum=0940b91ebf0398411417e6564a67675015426e510e8b054c836f494ffaa6922a
Climate change is the fight of our lives. But there's now so much momentum on our side -- and bit by bit our movement is dismantling the systems that are pushing our planet to the edge. The actions we take today will echo through generations to come. For our children, for the forests, the oceans, and everything we care about, we can't stop now, and we won't.

With hope and determination,

Marie, Martyna, Pascal, Luis, Mike, Anneke, Alice, Patricia, Mario, Nick, Daniel, and the entire Avaaz team

More information:

- Time for Europe to draw exit scenarios from the Energy Charter Treaty (Euractiv)
https://www.euractiv.com/section/all/opinion/time-for-europe-to-draw-exit-scenarios-from-the-energy-charter-treaty/
- Big energy sues Netherlands over coal phase-out (DW)
https://www.dw.com/en/big-energy-sues-netherlands-over-coal-phase-out/av-56561769
- Energy Charter Treaty - Dirty Secrets
https://energy-charter-dirty-secrets.org/
- EU governments whipsawed by climate and coal lawsuits (Politico)
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-government-climate-and-coal-lawsuits/
- Africa should resist acceding to the Energy Charter Treaty (Bilaterals)
https://www.bilaterals.org/?africa-should-resist-acceding-to&lang=en

Avaaz is a 65-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making. ("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 18 countries on 6 continents and operates in 17 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz's biggest campaigns here
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You became a member of the Avaaz movement and started receiving these emails when you signed "The Mega Climate Petition for a 100% Clean World" on 2014-10-09 using the email address dietsimon@t-online.de.

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