Investor- State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) is a mechanism engraved in (bilateral) investment treaties, which allows multinational corporations to sue governments in ad hoc tribunals for all sorts of public policies. In response, The Seattle to Brussels Network presents the ISDS Files that brings activists researchers, campaigners and academics to survey the implications and flaws of ISDS through specific cases around the world.
Featured in this production is Focus’s Philippine office coordinator, Joseph Purugganan. In this short clip on ISDS Joseph discusses the impact of ISDS on states and people. Along with litigation costs, he also mentions that “there’s also a deeper environmental, economic and social cost that is a burden, not just to governments, but to the people because of the effect of investment arbitration on the power of governments to come up with policies that are imbued with public interests.”
To view more videos from The ISDS Files, visit the YouTube channel at
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQf7lUHzCY22qk9LwA_qiXI-EuuHLEYFk
