On the first day of Seoul Arbitration Festival 2024, law firms Yoon&Yang, 39 Essex Chambers, and Al Tamimi & Company hosted a panel discussion titled ‘New and Renewable Energy Landscape in Korea and Beyond—Current Issues in Project Development and Dispute Resolution.’ The discussion was divided into two sessions. The first session focused on current new…
On 15 October 2024, Norton Rose Fulbright hosted a breakfast panel discussion on the topic of “Hot Cakes and Hot Takes: Trends and Developments in Asia’s Energy Sector” in Brisbane as part of Australian Arbitration Week. The panel was moderated by Dylan McKimmie, Head of Arbitration and Co-Head of Energy, Norton Rose Fulbright Australia and…
The 2024 Singapore Convention Week kicked off with a bang on 26 August 2024 with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”) hosting its flagship SIAC Symposium at the Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore. The SIAC Symposium 2024 featured a welcome address by Mr Davinder Singh SC (Chairman, SIAC; Executive Chairman, Davinder Singh Chambers LLC), a keynote address…
The present post focuses on the latest European development on the modernization of the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”). It will do so by putting it in a broader geopolitical context and linking it to the fossil fuel-related investments carve-out, not originally envisaged in the EU proposal. It will then analyse carve-outs in investment treaties in…
If an international arbitration practitioner hears “renewable energy,” “renewable energy source,” (“RES”) or even “energy transition” disputes, chances are that he or she may think of the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”) and the torrent of claims filed by investors against European Union (“EU”) Member States. These claims challenge retroactive regulatory changes to feed-in tariff and…
On March 11, 2024, an ICSID arbitral tribunal (Juan Fernández-Armesto (President), Wendy Miles, Alexis Mourre), rendered an award in Encavis AG and Others v. Italy. The controversy follows some other 14 disputes initiated by EU investors against the Italian State under the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”) (some of these discussed here) and falls into the…
The global fight against climate change demands a swift transition to cleaner energy sources. Underscoring this urgency, the 28th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (also known as the “Paris Agreement”) (“COP 28“), held in Dubai in November 2023, called for ambitious goals. At this conference, nearly 200…
This year’s ITA-IEL-ICC Joint Conference on International Energy Arbitration (the “Conference”), co-organised by the Institute for Transnational Arbitration was a whistle-stop tour of the new frontiers facing arbitration practitioners focused on the energy sector. There were, however, two themes that emerged as particularly significant: (i) the transition towards lower carbon economies; and (ii) the effects…
Clyde & Co LLP partnered with Jus Mundi and Queen Mary University of London (“QMUL”) School of International Arbitration to bring together a number of speakers on the development of arbitration and practice of investment in the Latin American (“LatAm”) region. The event kicked-off with a review of Jus Mundi’s latest energy arbitration report which…
At the Kluwer Arbitration Blog, December is the month to thank our readers and collaborators for their readership, contributions, and support. This is also one of the occasions in which we highlight and we praise our excellent editors. The Kluwer Arbitration Blog will celebrate 15 years of existence in 2024. On 28 January 2009, the…
Following the morning session which explored the geopolitics of international arbitration, the next generation of dispute resolution and the freshly-minted draft SIAC Rules (see Part 1), the afternoon session probed into regional and topical dimensions of international arbitration through six technologically-driven and interactive panel discussions. I. Regional Developments, Trends & Forecasts Illuminating Top…
On June 7, 2023, an ICC tribunal issued an award that will redefine risk allocation in the construction industry. The arbitration was initiated by Refinería de Cartagena S.A.S. (“Reficar”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Ecopetrol S.A., which is in turn owned by the Republic of Colombia, against Chicago Bridge & Iron Company NV., CB&I UK…
On an exceptionally sunny day in Vancouver, Canada, Vancouver International Arbitration Centre (VanIAC) and International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) hosted a joint conference entitled “Energy Infrastructure Disputes and Arbitration: Today and Tomorrow”. The one-day conference kicked off with a traditional welcome by Wilson Williams (Sxwíxwtn) of the Squamish Nation on June 2, 2023. After…
During the first days of June, the scenic Canadian city of Vancouver hosted several events of interest to the arbitration community. The biggest of these was the June 2 joint conference organized by the Vancouver International Arbitration Centre (“VanIAC”) and the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (“ICCA”), which will be discussed in a separate blog…
The energy transition lies at the heart of climate change mitigation efforts. A new survey by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) in collaboration with Pinsent Masons, the Future of International Energy Arbitration Survey Report, (“the Energy Report” or “the 2022 QMUL Survey”) (see also here) offers guidance to anticipate and mitigate those risks for…
The Panel “The Future of Major Energy Projects Crises, Challenges, and Opportunities” took place on the penultimate day of the London International Disputes Week 2023 (“LIDW 2023”) on 18th May 2023 in the London office of McDermott Will & Emergy with panellist Armando Neris from McDermott Will & Emery, Lucian Ilie from Outer Temple Chambers,…
The modernization of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) has been debated among scholars, with some supporting it and others criticizing the process and outcome. The vote on the modernization was postponed indefinitely due to ongoing debates about the Treaty’s future, including various withdrawals from it. The modernization process encapsulates broader reform efforts and attempts to…
Much has been written already about the future of the Energy Charter Treaty (“the ECT”) – or perhaps lack thereof. Briefly, attempts to modernise the ECT began in earnest in 2017 with the aim of better aligning the treaty’s substantive provisions with its contracting parties’ climate law obligations. On 24 June 2022, those discussions culminated…
The energy sector has long been one of the major users of international arbitration, and the field has always been a fertile ground for disputes, whether they be price reviews, construction claims, sale and delivery disagreements or disputes over the decommissioning of assets. This has certainly been the case in recent years, including for arbitrations…
In the course of the 2023 Paris Arbitration Week, Jeantet organized a round table on “Arbitrating Renewable Energy Disputes, with a Special Focus on the CEE Region”. The panel was composed of Caroline Falconer (Secretary General of the SCC Arbitration Institute), Jurriaan Kien, (Legal Director New Energies & Services, SBM Offshore), Edoardo Marcenaro, (Head of…
2023 Paris Arbitration Week (PAW) gathered over 1,400 attendees, in person and online, and featured over 145 events over five days. Kluwer Arbitration Blog is the official media partner of PAW. The first day of PAW kicked off with the keynote address by Dr Yas Banifatemi, founding partner of Gaillard Banifatemi Shelbaya Disputes. In keeping…
On 17 and 24 February 2023, speakers from various jurisdictions convened webinars to address ESG, climate change and EU-related issues. Jonathan Barnett (Nivalion AG) reports. Keynote Speech: The Expanding Universe of Climate Change Disputes: Annette Magnusson (Climate Change Counsel) Annette Magnusson delivered the keynote speech on “The Expanding Universe of Climate Change Disputes” to…
The past year has seen a variety of exogenous impacts to global energy markets: from the sanctions flowing from Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, to the supply chain aftershocks of the COVID Pandemic, to hiccups in the commercial and government policy implementations of the global Energy Transition. International arbitration too has seen its share…
Renewable energy is front-and-centre in the Japanese energy agenda. Japan is still heavily reliant on fossil fuels for its electricity generation needs with one-third of its carbon emissions coming from its 78 thermal power stations. The Japanese prime minister has pledged that Japan will be carbon neutral by 2050 leading to the Japanese Ministry of…
