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Professor John Robertson OBA

Thanks to ArtyHetty for alerting me to this:

From Global Justice Now on 10th August 2025:

The British government is being sued in a so-called ‘corporate court’ by an investor in the now abandoned Cumbria coal mine. The coal mine was quashed by the High Court less than a year ago over concerns around carbon emissions, and following large scale environmental mobilisations against it. Investors behind the project are now using the UK’s investment treaty with Singapore to sue the government.

The exact details of the latest challenge are not yet clear. The claimants are being represented by Conservative MP and former attorney general Geoffrey Cox.

Campaigners have long warned that these ad hoc international tribunals, written into trade or investment agreements, are deeply undemocratic: allowing foreign investors a bespoke legal process to challenge governments for actions they regard as ‘unfair’. In 2023, a United Nations report described ISDS as “unjust, undemocratic and dysfunctional”, and recommended states withdraw their consent to arbitration under investment treaties.

^{https://www.globaljustice.org.uk/news/britain-sued-in-corporate-court-over-quashing-of-coal-mine-in-cumbria/}

ISDS (investor-state dispute settlements) have already extracted £100 bn in public money since 2006.

^{https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/06/investors-awarded-billions-of-dollars-for-losses-related-to-climate-laws-analysis-finds?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other}

The amount being sued for has not been disclosed but similar cases have seen awards of more than £3 million:

^{https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/11/uk-taxpayers-on-hook-failed-cumbria-coalmine-investors-sue-government}

There is no devolved budget for England from which this will be paid so it will come from the UK Treasury with Scotland paying ‘its’ share of around 10% or £300 000.