A group of Slovenian environmental non-governmental organizations (NGO) has called on Minister of Infrastructure Jernej Vrtovec as a representative of the Slovenian EU presidency to propose a political discussion on the EU exiting the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) at the September informal meeting of Energy Ministers.
The call from the Slovenian NGOs comes after more than 400 European civil society organizations have called on EU leaders to stick to their climate change promises, prioritize climate policies and exit the ECT.
Press release from the Umanotera NGO states that the Energy Charter Treaty is an obstacle in the transition to clean energy, which is why it is high time to exit it.
According to Umanotera, the reason is the ECT, which enables energy corporations to sue countries for astronomic amounts over their climate policies. It noted that Slovenia could soon end up in court in the case of Ascent Resources, the British company that has announced a 120 million euros lawsuit over Slovenia’s decision to order extra studies of hydraulic fracturing in the north-east of the country.
EU leaders have been called to exit the ECT not later than by the international COP26 climate conference in November.
