Germany quits energy treaty, says it hampers climate goals

Germany’s energy minister says the government has formally decided to abandon an international energy accord that fossil fuel companies had used to oppose measures against climate change. The move follows similar decisions by Italy, France, Spain and other European countries to leave the 1998 Energy Charter Treaty, which includes provisions designed to protect foreign investments in a country’s energy sector. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Wednsday treaty runs counter to the Paris climate accord. He cited cases brought by German utility companies against the Dutch government’s decision to end the burning of coal. Habeck, a member of the environmentalist Green party, backed calls by climate campaigners for the European Union as a whole to withdraw from the pact.