France is pulling out of a 1994 treaty that had the effect of protecting investment in fossil fuels when Europe is retooling towards a greener future, President Emmanuel Macron announced Friday.

"France has decided to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty," he told a news conference in Brussels after an EU summit, two days after the Netherlands made a similar announcement.

The move was done to be more "coherent" with the Paris climate accord to combat global warming by relying more heavily on renewable energy sources, as well as to counter speculation in the energy market, he said.

The Energy Charter Treaty started out as a way to protect energy investment, especially in Central Asia and eastern Europe, in volatile ex-Soviet countries.

A key element of the treaty was allowing energy companies to sue governments over energy policy changes that could hurt their investments -- exposing states to multi-billion-dollar compensation claims.

But as Europe transitions towards a carbon-neutral future, that treaty has become something of an albatross.

In June, the European Union struck a compromise deal -- to come into force next month if no signatories objected -- to revise the treaty to limit legal actions where they jeopardise climate goals.

But climate groups have slammed loopholes left in the update and say the treaty continues to put efforts to curb global warming at risk.

The Netherlands announced on Wednesday it was pulling of the treaty on grounds that it was incompatible with the Paris accord.

Related Links
All About Solar Energy at SolarDaily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

2D ruddlesden-popper phase perovskite passivation layer for efficient and stable PSCS
Ulsan, South Korea (SPX) Oct 20, 2022
A research team, led by Professor Hyesung Park in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UNIST has succeeded in manufacturing potentially high efficiency, stable, and scalable perovskite solar cells (PSCs) via vacuum deposition apparatus, a method of fabricating organic light-emitting display devices (OLEDs). Such method is also advantageous for the mass production of batteries, which is expected to further accelerate the commercialization of the PSCs, according to the research team. ... read more