UK firms using legal muscle to facilitate human rights and climate abuses – report

Miners in Bolivia. Transform Trade says the UK has recently instigated 66 cases involving the legal instruments known as investor-state dispute settlements, which disproportionately target developing countries. Photograph: Paul Jeffrey/Alamy

UK companies operating overseas are afforded far greater legal protections than the citizens of the countries they invest in, leading to corporations getting away with human rights and climate change abuses, a report has found.

The Transform Trade charity says the majority of UK bilateral investment treaties (BITs) contain no mention of climate change, the environment or human rights, meaning companies are not held accountable for violations.