Honduras is currently facing a total of $19.4 billion in lawsuits from corporations, an amount equivalent to roughly 53% of the country’s GDP in 2024, according to new data by the Institute for Policy Studies, Transnational Institute, Honduras Solidarity Network and TerraJusta. More than $1.6 billion of the claims are from the energy sector alone, most of which are investors or companies involved in renewables. The lawsuits, most of which are tied to controversial investments made after the 2009 coup, undermine government efforts to implement reforms aimed at protecting the environment and human rights, the organizations say. Companies and investors are using these tribunals to resist government measures to protect natural resources and human rights, such as the rollback of policies that favor privatization and expensive private energy contracts, according to Karen Spring, a coordinator for the Honduras Solidarity Network and author of a 2024 report by the same organizations that released the new figures. “The companies do not like these re-negotiations and refuse to sit down with the government of one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere to negotiate, and with greed and arrogance, appeal to these neocolonial international arbitration tribunals to force Honduras to give them what they want – consistent corporate profits at the expense of the public good,” Spring told Mongabay over email. X-Elio’s Solar Energy Park in Choluteca, Honduras. Image by Jen Moore. The $19.4 billion is a jump from the $14 billion reported by the same organizations in 2024, with two new…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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