The Guardian | Oil companies don’t deserve reparations for fossil fuel bans. They’ll still want them

The English newspaper The Guardian, one of the most important media outlets in the world, has published an article written by Nicolás Perrone, professor of Law School of Viña del Mar Headquarters, in its opinion section.

In the column, professor Perrone refers to the real possibility that fossil fuel companies can use national and international laws to demand compensation for fossil fuel bans or oil or coal extraction bans. On this same topic, Perrone points out that “the climatic emergency not only requires the gradual elimination of fossil fuels, but also the reinvention of the laws and regulations that have been implicated in years of uncontrolled extraction of natural resources. The two must go hand in hand”.

Nicolás M. Perrone is a research associate professor of International Law at the Universidad Andrés Bello in Chile. This article was adapted from his book Investment Treaties and the Legal Imagination: How Foreign Investors Play By Their Own Rules (OUP 2021).