RWE, Uniper Can’t Sue Netherlands Over Forced Coal Exit (1)

RWE AG and Uniper SE can’t sue the Dutch government through international arbitration under an obscure treaty for being forced to shut their coal plants in the country, a German court ruled.

A court in the city of Cologne ordered the two companies to withdraw their cases filed at the World Bank’s arbitration tribunal in Washington, DC. The result is a boon to environmental campaigners who had warned that the Energy Charter Treaty could be used by big polluters to slow down the clean energy transition.

Under European Union rules, countries based in the bloc cannot start these sort of ...