The Swiss court is not an appeal mechanism for the tribunal and cannot consider the broad merits of the case. Palmer’s cases use a little-known set of rights for foreign investors in trade agreements, called Investor-State Dispute Settlement. Palmer’s claims expose the absurdity of ISDS, which allows investors to make multibillion-dollar claims against court decisions, legislation or policy changes. Palmer’s last three cases join a growing global list of ISDS cases from fossil fuel companies against government decisions to reduce carbon emissions. Labor government policy excludes ISDS from future trade agreements and pledges to review it in 25 existing bilateral and regional agreements.
