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If you were told that over half of young people in the United Kingdom would prefer to live under a dictatorship, what year would you say this data was drawn from?

It might shock you to learn that the survey was conducted in 2022 rather than 1922.

This is the extent to which frustration has harbored among many young people who have grown disenfranchised with democracy. Those who see only a widening disconnect between the priorities of current leaders and their own.

Young people are increasingly viewing the efforts of global leaders as incapable of turning the dial on the issues that mean the most to them, notably the climate crisis, economic insecurity, mental wellbeing and social inequality. 

This is a generation set to inherit a world where climate change nears a point of no return, where inequality is skyrocketing and mental health plummeting globally. Inaction — or at least insufficient action — is driving a cohort of voters away from democracy.

With almost half of the world's population voting in 2024, how can we restore faith in a system that has failed young people and their concerns? 

Better engagement with the issues that mean the most to young people

Young people are often overlooked in political processes. For example, 60 percent of Africa’s population is aged under 25, but the median age of its leaders is 62, according to the nonpartisan research nonprofit the Brookings Institution. If politicians want young people to engage, they need to engage with the issues that matter to them.

Young people are particularly invested in social inequality and climate change, with 51 percent of those polled by the global community for young leaders One Young World saying that climate anxiety was negatively affecting their mental health and 55 percent saying that they had no confidence in those leaders to deliver net zero by 2050. When we look at the polling numbers for incumbent leaders, it becomes clear that current politicians are not addressing these issues effectively, if at all. 

This is evident in the United States, where President Joe Biden’s approval ratings have dropped significantly amongst young voters primarily due to his stances on issues important to them — namely inaction over student debt and climate change. Young people globally are growing increasingly impatient with global leaders and their inability to turn the dial on such issues.

Take for instance the response to the Grenfell Tower fire. Just last month we were told that the final report of the tragedy was further delayed and wouldn't be published until after the seventh anniversary of the disaster. Now compare it to Russia’s swift response to the mall fire that killed 64 people in Kemerovo, where managers faced charges just days after the blaze. Russian authorities face accusations of corruption and misleading the public, but where there is public anger, there is a lack of patience with institutions and a disregard for due process.

And with this atmosphere of public anger and impatience, the false promise of the autocrat becomes an ever present threat: That strong-man leaders move decisively, whilst the focused deliberation of democracies is inherently slow.

If incumbent leaders wish to engage young people, they need to listen to their concerns and commit to tangible action, and they need to move faster. Young people’s priorities, such as housing and climate change, cannot afford more decades of inaction.

Empower the next generation of young leaders to secure democracy

Whilst those currently in power need to listen to the concerns of young people, the security of democracy depends upon the next generation of leadership. It is imperative that we cultivate strong, ethical and self-aware leaders that are equipped to face the challenges of rising authoritarianism.

Part of that process must be empowering young people to play a more central role in decision making, allowing them to address the concerns of their peers and introducing new perspectives into traditional institutions.

In order to make lasting change, youth voices need to be included for policies to respond to the specific needs of younger generations, according to the Electoral Knowledge Network. 

In many parts of the world we have seen a hopeful start to this trend. From France electing their youngest prime minister, Gabriel Attal, at age 35, to Ireland’s new taoiseach, Simon Harris, aged 37. 

We must give recognition where recognition is due. That’s why in 2018 we created the One Young World Politician of the Year Award. It is the first global award to recognize the most promising young politicians between the ages of 18 and 35 from around the world using public office to effect positive change in their communities, particularly to benefit and represent young people. The 2023 winners included: Arielle Kayabaga, member of parliament for London West, Canada; Moko Tepania, mayor of the Far North District, New Zealand; Sobita Gautam, member of the House of Representatives, Nepal; and Ayor Makur Chuot, member of the 41st Parliament of Western Australia.

But leadership is not just about politics, and young people should be trusted in other spheres of influence as well. From business and community leaders to innovators, young people have shown that they have a vested interest in tangible solutions, and we must enthusiastically empower their endeavors. 

In order for young people to have trust in democracy we must trust them, by inviting them to the table, platforming their voices and investing financially in their ideas.

Create forums for collaboration

As the world becomes increasingly more polarized, and young people continue to become more skeptical and more detached from society, the importance of creating community is clearer than ever. We face some of our most global and existential challenges, from climate change to rampant inequality. If we are to effectively tackle these issues, we must work together. 

Investing in spaces for like-minded individuals to come together and work towards common goals is crucial. Each year at the One Young World Summit, I see the tangible progress that grows from conversations and connections at the event. International forums for collaboration act as a key means to engage and inspire younger generations, empowering them to find an active role in the betterment of society.

But beyond this, these forums create the space to bridge divides and debate contrasting opinions.

Listening to and understanding contrasting perspectives, and even criticism, can open up your world view and allow you to strengthen your resolve and mission. Understanding why people are resistant to the change you are proposing allows you to adapt your proposition and give your cause a better chance at acceptance. As One Young World Counselor, Thuli Madonsela, who helped draft the South African constitution, says, “seeking first to understand the world view and concerns of those who disagree provides a basis for establishing some common ground." 

While there might be a crisis of faith in democracy, it is clear as to why. Young people feel as though they do not have a seat at the table and are powerless to make change. Our current leaders must do more to engage on the issues that matter most to young people and ultimately we must empower and champion our young leaders to take on leading public roles. Collaborative forums where young people can engage with current global leadership as well as like-minded individuals is essential to inspire the next generation of change makers.

It’s also important to recognize that young people are already changing the world and making steps towards a fairer and more sustainable future. If we truly want to dispel the false promise of the autocrat and restore faith in democracy, we must trust young people to do this not just "tomorrow," but now.

The growing popularity of avocados in the United States has created an economic boom across all parts of the fruit's value chain. In fact, imports of Mexican avocados added over $6 billion in gross domestic product to the U.S. economy in 2022 alone, according to a recent report. The avocado industry in Mexico also supports approximately 78,000 direct and permanent jobs and more than 300,000 indirect and seasonal jobs. 

While farm workers play a crucial role in the avocado's journey from orchard to table, thousands of buyers, packers, marketers and logistics professionals are just as critical to the industry’s growing success.

The farm-to-table journey 

For Ricardo Vega, avocados are a piece of home. He comes from a family of avocado growers in Michoacán, Mexico, the center of global avocado production. His father started one of the first commercial avocado orchards in Michoacán in the 1960s, complete with a packing house and distribution center. 


Vega followed in his father’s footsteps and built a thriving distribution center in the heart of the world’s largest avocado growing region. “I am fortunate,” Vega said. “The vast majority of avocado growers don’t get to see where their product goes after the packing house. For me, it is amazing to see the products we grow go from the orchard all the way to the stores and to the consumers.” 

The journey starts in Michoacán’s orchards. “We have a team of buyers who visit orchards to select the fruit with the best quality,” Vega explained. After the buyers make their picks—all while the avocados are still on trees—a picking crew harvests each batch and transfers them to the packing house.

“We work hard to avoid waste from the moment of harvest,” Vega continued. “You cannot export fruit that touches the ground, because there is the risk of dents and contamination. We process 500 tons of avocados per week. If even 5 percent of that fruit touched the ground, we could be wasting [approximately] $30,000 of avocados.”

Once the avocados arrive at the packing house, they are cleaned, disinfected and inspected by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials. The avocados are then graded by size and quality before being stored in a cold, climate-controlled space. There, they await transport and distribution. “Everything is selected and packed by hand,” Vega said. “It’s an artisanal process.”

Growing healthy avocados for a healthy planet

Improving operational sustainability is critical for all parts of the avocado industry’s supply chain. Vega’s company has implemented several sustainable practices, such as using recycled packaging and disinfecting produce with UV lights to reduce water use. His packing house is also zero-emissions and utilizes solar arrays and energy-efficient equipment, Vega said. “We know we have to keep working on issues such as forest management, water and climate change so we can keep growing avocados sustainably in the long run,” Vega shared. 

Food loss and waste accounts for approximately 6 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions globally, which is why finding innovative solutions is key for any company in the food sector.  “Each company has its own strategies to avoid waste,” Vega explained. “However, we have implemented a very strict process of controls from the orchard to the transportation to avoid loss.” While there is some food loss in the packing house, his team utilizes the waste to make compost for the orchards and avocado oil for the beauty industry, he said.   

Community impact

Vega counts the continued development of the avocado industry and the growth of both his company and community as his most important measures of success. “Twenty-five years ago, the price for 1 kilo of avocados was 15 cents. Now, it is $1.50 to $2. This has grown our community life in a way that can’t be quantified,” he said. 

The economic boom has allowed Vega to invest in his employees and the broader community. That includes providing benefits for employees who stay with the company over the long-term. When employees have been with the company for more than eight years, they are eligible to participate in a program that covers the costs of home improvements. The company also provides scholarships to elementary and middle-school students, as well as supports a home for senior citizens. 

“Since Michoacán has been able to export avocados to the world, it has drastically changed the quality of life in Michoacán and in avocado-growing communities,” Vega said. He noted that 25 years ago, Michoacán was one of the top three Mexican states sending migrants to the U.S., but job opportunities and an increasing quality of life has allowed residents to stay. 
 “People have opportunities now in the avocado industry. They don’t migrate for work in other places. It is noticeable in our community, and in our quality of life, even if it is not measurable.” 

While Vega followed his father into the avocado sector, he is now passing his love for the business to his son. “I have been in this line of work since it started, and now my son is a part of the family business as the third generation of avocado growers and packers in our family,” Vega reflected. “For us, in this industry, every day is different, but that’s what makes it fun.” 

This article series is sponsored by the Avocado Institute of Mexico and produced by the TriplePundit editorial team.

In the first issue of Frederick Douglass’s groundbreaking newspaper, The North Star, the scholastic abolitionist declared that “the man who has suffered the wrong is the man to demand redress.”

Donte West is continuing Douglass’ legacy today, advocating for the release of prisoners incarcerated for cannabis-related charges. West earned recognition for sharing the story of his wrongful incarceration in 2017 for false felony cannabis charges. West, the full-time caregiver for his grandmother and younger brothers in California, was severed from his family after a road trip to visit a friend in Kansas led to local authorities falsely accusing him of trying to sell a pound of marijuana. 

The Kansas Highway Patrol utilized its now-infamous “Kansas two-step” maneuver — a predatory approach that a federal judge has since declared unconstitutional — to pull West over for “dirt on his license plate.” The long-running tactic violated the Fourth Amendment rights of drivers, particularly those from outside of the state. Putting the cart before the horse, Kansas authorities detained first and asked questions later. Lacking reasonable suspicion for the initial stop, law enforcement extended the stop long enough to create reasonable suspicion to search the vehicle — a guilty until proven innocent mindset.

After the state of Kansas wrongfully charged West with possession and conspiracy to distribute marijuana, he was sentenced to eight years in Lansing Correctional Facility. The duration seemed excessive to West, even more so when he met violent offenders and murderers with shorter sentences. 

When the public defender assigned to West’s case failed to help him challenge the charges, he took matters into his own hands. Haunted by the memory of his brothers crying when he left to fly to Kansas and report to sentencing, West began looking into his case and was shocked to see some glaring issues with the state’s only witness — details that his lawyer overlooked.

“Maybe if my lawyer would have read my case, maybe I wouldn’t be here right now,” West recalled thinking. “I began to read the discovery, I became obsessed with my case. I was … reading thousands of cases, kind of just soaking up the game. There was a lot of stuff I didn’t understand, but eventually, after two and a half years, it began to make sense.” 

West filed a writ of habeas corpus which would allow him to appear in court and argue that the state had unconstitutionally incarcerated him. Writing to all 125 state representatives and 40 state senators in Kansas, he gathered support from elected officials while the prison staff helped him learn more about his case and the path to pursuing recourse. Local teachers and even the Kansas City mayor vocally supported West, who eventually achieved exoneration in 2021. 

Continuing the fight

After securing his own freedom and returning to California, West didn’t sit idle. He has since dedicated his life to helping others in situations like the one he escaped. Now a spokesperson of the nonprofit the Last Prisoner Project, which fights criminal injustice related to the United States' "War on Drugs," West is focused on advocacy and is pursuing a law degree. 

West works toward cannabis decriminalization and anti-incarceration with multiple brands, including doing community outreach for the Missouri-based cannabis company Illicit Gardens. The business doesn’t just distribute legal marijuana, but it also raises awareness about the plight of those still serving lengthy sentences for doing the same thing that other Americans are now building fortunes on, with the legal cannabis market now valued at over $21 billion in the U.S.

In 2023, Illicit Gardens launched the West Brand, raising awareness about the continued injustice of cannabis-related felonies for those now released from prison. 

“People that were a felon couldn’t work in the cannabis industry in Missouri,” West said. “If all they knew to do was to sell weed, they wanted to get out and be in the industry and was like, ‘I’m gonna learn it the right way. I’m gonna pay taxes. I’m not gonna jeopardize my freedom.’ You couldn't even do it because you’re a felon.”

Through compelling graphic design on stickers, T-shirts and marijuana containers, West depicts the ongoing injustice of a nation in which some profit off the same thing others are punished for. One cannabis container displays a cartoon of a man on a cloud dangling a fishing rod above a prison. Then, it depicts a prisoner running across the cloud and jumping onto a bus for outbound prisoners. 

“Get out, go get one, and go get another one out,” West said. “That’s kind of how the brand does it.”

His T-shirts depict a jail cell with a list of names on each side: On the left are the prisoners West helped to free, and on the right are the prisoners he is working to free. The men he's helped to free include his former bunkmate and current cannabis clemency advocate, Kyle Page, who was able to reunite with his daughter before her graduation thanks to West lobbying the parole board, and Robert Franklin, a Missouri prisoner who served 11 years of a nearly 20-year sentence for possessing a pound of marijuana.

Among the prisoners West is working to free is Kevin O’Brien Allen, who was serving a life sentence in Louisiana for the crime of selling $20 worth of marijuana. West and his coalition of advocates helped reduce Allen’s sentence to 35 years and are continuing to fight for his release.

West modestly describes the number of prisoners he is working to free as “only four or five” at a time, but each person represents a human with family and aspirations, a victim of a now defunct war on cannabis, a soul that may not have anyone else fighting for their release.

“If you don’t humanize these people, you instantly become a number,” West said. “Once you get into the justice system, you’re referred to as a number, and that’s it. How do we prevent that?”

Lobbying for cannabis clemency and decriminalization in Washington and beyond

West’s efforts are focused on states in the Midwest, but he performs a fair share of federal advocacy as well. Ahead of April 20, the unofficial marijuana holiday, West headed to Washington, D.C. with the Last Prisoner Project. The organization put together a massive bipartisan coalition to lobby for cannabis clemency and decriminalization.

The coalition declared April 18 a day of action to pressure the White House and Congress to fully legalize marijuana and grant justice to those currently and formerly incarcerated on cannabis charges.

Members of both parties from both ends of Congress joined the coalition and sought to convince other federal officials to put words into action and achieve cannabis justice once and for all.

While West appreciated the support from members of Congress, he reiterated that for the coalition to reach their shared goal, it is important to connect with and change the minds of those who disagree.

“We’ll never make a change if we’re not a conversation at the dinner table,” West said. “You want to be a conversation piece, because that is how you change the law. It’s a fantastic story with the right policy and legislation attack. It’s like, you gotta inspire me and then bring me the paperwork.”

To that end, West sees the potential of savvy brand marketing to influence change where elected officials have tried and failed. 

On top of the marketing and advocacy he performs with Illicit Gardens, West has dipped his toe into modeling and was featured in the clothing company Lucky Brand’s new Last Prisoner Project support campaign. He joked that a judge who put someone away for 20 years on a cannabis charge might think differently when he sees Lucky Brand advocating for decriminalization because he probably owns a pair of the brand’s jeans.

“It shows you how cannabis is going mainstream,” West said. “Hopefully Nike does it next, or Louis Vuitton.”

Through advocacy big and small, West’s influence continues to grow. Kansas City, Missouri, recognized the activist last year by proclaiming April 20 “4/20 Donte West Cannabis Justice Day.”

West’s name now rings out across the Midwest as a tireless voice for the voiceless, be it his old bunkmate in Kansas or a Louisiana prisoner sentenced to life for possessing just two grams of marijuana. For victims of cannabis criminalization in prison and beyond, West is a rising north star.

India is facing historic levels of deforestation. The Indian government plans to boost carbon sequestration efforts by increasing forest and tree cover, aiming to pull at least 2.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by 2030. The not-for-profit organization Farmers for Forests is helping India achieve those goals by paying farmers to practice agroforestry and cultivate biodiverse forests on historically barren land. 

Forests are a critical part of the global fight against climate change. On one side, forest loss and damage is one of the largest contributors to climate change, responsible for about 10 percent of total global warming, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Conversely, smart, biodiverse and regionally-appropriate reforestation contributes to climate resilience and can create carbon sinks that sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. 

Farmers for Forests operates in rural areas of India, primarily in the state of Maharashtra, and supports farmers to maintain forests or reforest parts of their land with native species. Using drone technology to track the health of the trees, the organization provides farmers who maintain a certain percentage of tree cover with quarterly cash transfers.

“We leverage technology to ensure that what we have planted survives for the long term because we want to measure the actual outcomes, not just the number of saplings planted,” said Arti Dhar, co-founder of Farmers for Forests.

How it works 

Prior to working with farmers in a specific village or region, Farmers for Forests holds informational community meetings and seeks buy-in from local leaders. Then, farmers can speak with the organization’s team members to inquire about enrolling some of their land into the reforestation or forest protection programs. 

Farmers for Forests only reforests land that hasn't been used for several years and verifies that the land has been fallow using historical satellite data. It also works with the local land records office to ensure the land ownership is clear and uncontested. Next, the organization creates a contract with a farmer and begins the reforestation process, which includes planting saplings, applying soil inputs, transporting supplies and watering. The team also assists with ongoing care and cultivation. 

“Although we have contracts in place, we cannot and do not mandate anything on behalf of the farmer,” Dhar said. “The land and the trees belong to the farmers, and they can do what they want with that. They are the best decision-makers for their circumstances.”  

 

 

 

 

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This reforestation process is a form of agroforestry, an agricultural method that integrates trees and shrubs with crops or livestock for environmental and economic benefits. 

“In our model, we take land that was barren or fallow and plant agroforests with different kinds of fruit species,” Dhar said. “With fruit sales combined with our payments, farmers on average make three times the amount of money than they would have made from traditional farming. That is why our agroforestry model works. Our global economic system values a dead tree more than a live tree. We need to align incentives with desired outcomes. Our model addresses that.” 

The payments are becoming increasingly self-sustaining through revenue generated from the voluntary carbon market. Farmers for Forests aggregates their projects for registry and distributes a percentage of the revenue back to the farmers, creating financial incentives to keep the trees in the ground, rather than harvesting them for wood. 

The organization also developed a tech platform that uses drones to monitor the survival rates of several tree species across the areas it serves in India and is preparing to make the platform open source. 

“Our technology can detect each tree crown, which is better than what satellites can do,” Dhar said. “Satellite data cannot detect trees until they are about five years old, but trees are most vulnerable in their first few years.” 

 

 

 

 

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Sustaining forests for the future

Aside from converting fallow land into agroforests, Farmers for Forests helped keep an additional 3,000 acres of forest protected from deforestation and degradation. 

“About 30 percent of India’s land is now considered degraded,” Dhar said. “That is almost three times the size of Germany. That land is possibly emitting carbon instead of storing it. However, agroforestry is climate resilient, improves soil quality and stores carbon in the soil.” 

Reforestation goes beyond carbon sequestration and builds climate resilience, which is especially important in rural, agrarian communities who are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, she said. 

Dhar also emphasized that Farmers for Forests is focused on creating long-lasting change. For each region the organization has forests in, there is a field team living and working there. 

“We are focusing on long-surviving sustainability interventions,” she said. “We don’t want to plant and then leave. There are a lot of challenges involved in working in a rural landscape in India, and we want people on the ground actively addressing it.” 

Moving forward, Dhar is excited to release Farmers for Forests’ tech platform to other organizations looking to do similar work, but she is also grappling with what scaling up should look like. 

“Do we focus on acres of land? Partnerships with other organizations? Or does scale mean fewer acres but higher quality work that stands the test of time?” She said. “There is a lot of greenwashing that can happen with this kind of work, so we want to build an ecosystem of trusted partners and work together on a small level to ultimately reach more people.”

Coral reefs, some of the most important ecosystems in the world, are in a global decline — and climate change is a key cause.

With an estimated 2 million different kinds of animals living in or near coral reefs, it can be argued that the biodiversity found in them beats that of the Amazon rainforest. What’s more, an estimated 1 billion people benefit either directly or indirectly from the ecosystem services coral reefs provide.

While the restoration of coral reefs is urgent, the process is time consuming and labor intensive. Three fundamental obstacles deter the ability to rescue coral reels, said Sonia Gameiro, head of the sustainability consulting practice for the information tech company Orange Business in Europe.

The first is the inability to frequently monitor coral reefs to collect data. At the moment, a diver needs to go under water and manually write notes on the species. The accuracy of the data is also questionable because the disturbances caused by the diver could make species hide or flee. Lastly, it is operationally inefficient as a marine biologists' time could be better spent on coral restoration rather than data collection.

To tackle these challenges, Orange Business linked up with Tēnaka, a social enterprise focused on restoring coral reefs, to develop a solution based on artificial intelligence.

The result is an autonomous marine research system designed by Orange Business and Tēnaka in partnership with Yucca Labs, a company specialized in product design and engineering. The research station is equipped with underwater monitoring devices and the solar-powered floating buoys that are connected to the 4G cellular network to transfer images.

The collaboration aims to restore nearly 5,000 square meters of coral reefs in a marine protected area of the Coral Triangle in Malaysia, the most diverse marine ecosystem on the planet. 

“To tackle the issue of data collection frequency, we're putting a device in the ocean which takes pictures every 30 seconds, 12 hours a day,” Gameiro said. “We have an underwater module that has four cameras linked to the buoy, and that buoy has solar panels. There are no cables, and we're only enabling the 4G connectivity module to transmit the pictures once a day in order to save energy. It's near real-time data, and Tēnaka will have information every single day as opposed to once a month.” 

An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm created by Orange Business identifies and counts diverse marine species in the reefs.

In terms of data accuracy, since the device will always be underwater, it is expected that it will be unnoticed by the marine species and will be able to capture phenomena that researchers are unable to capture otherwise.

“For example, one of the stories Tēnaka tells us is that they have a very rare species of shark that goes into the coral reef, specifically in the Tioman Islands, because they've seen their eggs.” Gameiro said. ”But they have never been able to see the shark itself. Hopefully, with a camera that is always there, they will be able to identify and detect such phenomena that today are totally unnoticed, so they will have a much better knowledge on what's going on around the coral reef and the functioning of the marine ecosystem overall.”

As for the improving operational efficiency, this system ensures that marine biologists can spend much more time restoring corals instead of monitoring reefs and collecting data.

“We will also add one specific feature for Tēnaka which they don't have today, which is an alerting feature,” Gameiro said. "There are certain conditions that will automatically generate an alert. For example, the presence of the crown of thorns starfish — that is beautiful, but it has huge spikes and actually eats corals. So, if they identify the presence of this starfish thanks to this alerting, they can immediately act and remove it, so that they minimize the impact to the health of the coral reefs.”

Orange Business is using existing AI models that it customized to be able to recognize 17 species. These include the mega fauna — sharks, turtles and rays — nine species of fish, and five species of invertebrates like urchins. The model is trained to identify the local species using pictures.

All the data sets used to train the AI algorithm and pictures collected are open source and available for anyone to access.
So far, the first prototype station is complete. Now, the companies are making the rest of the underwater monitoring modules and ensuring everything works properly, Gameiro said. 

Orange Business is investing a few hundred thousand euros into this project both in terms of man hours and equipment, which gives it the necessary financing for 2024, said Nemo Verbist, president of Orange Business in Europe. 

“My thinking was, 'What if we could find a [corporate social responsibility] project where we could support not only by funding, but also by doing something with our technology?’” Verbist said. “We then asked our employees for ideas, and our research showed that coral restoration can make a huge impact when it comes to climate action. This project is an end-to-end story bringing together all of our capabilities as a company.”

This story is part of an ongoing solutions journalism series focused on reuse systems, how they're used around the world, and what's holding them back from scaling further. Follow along with the series here. 

"We want to find the barriers, or perceived barriers, to reuse and tackle them with data," said Crystal Dreisbach, CEO of Upstream, a nonprofit change agency working to accelerate reuse systems across North America.

The organization operates under a three-pillar theory of change: normalize reuse, expand the infrastructure that enables reuse systems, and ensure a favorable policy environment for these systems to thrive. The goal? "Accelerate reuse to become a widespread, cross-operable, shared, universal utility," Dreisbach said. "Just like trash and recycling, but better." To understand what these three steps mean in practice, look no further than the school lunchroom. 

School lunchrooms: The ideal frontier in the future of reuse?

"So many school systems are still serving on Styrofoam with plastic forks every day," Dreisbach said. Until recently, the 56-school system in her hometown of Durham, North Carolina's fourth largest city with a population of 300,000, was one of them. Durham's public schools serve hot lunch to around 25,000 students daily, resulting in a minimum of 50,000 disposable items each day. 

In partnership with the local nonprofit Don't Waste Durham, where Dreisbach previously served as CEO, the city's public school system is transitioning away from single-use lunch trays in favor of reusable alternatives.

The move not only reduces waste at Durham schools, but it also provides a hefty long-term contract for the pickup, wash and delivery services that form the backbone of the reuse economy. "It's part of the burgeoning new industry of reuse service, which is basically washing dishes," Dreisbach said. "It’s not rocket science." 

While of course washing dishes is nothing new, making the transition from single-use can come with a high upfront cost for organizations like school systems. Many schools don't have the space for dishwashers and drying racks, which means they have to rely on third-party services. And whether they can wash in-house or not, they still have to invest in reusable trays and other serve-ware.  

Schools, businesses and other organizations end up saving money in the long run by eliminating the ongoing cost of disposable products, but they have to get past the initial investment first. Fortunately, existing resources can help.

The nonprofit Plastic Free Restaurants, for example, covers up to 100 percent of the cost for schools, nonprofits and restaurants to switch to reusable serve-ware. Applicants simply send their receipts for recent disposable purchases and receive a subsidy for qualifying reusable replacements. "They're hoping to break down the barrier of that upfront cost," Dreisbach said.

Software from Upstream can also help organizations calculate the environmental impact of switching to reusables, as well as the long-term cost savings and the payoff date. 

"It's a very different economic model than disposable. With Styrofoam plates, you just buy them as you need them and throw them away," Dreisbach said. "But with reuse, it's a huge upfront investment with payoff over time. It's very similar to the solar industry: You can't realize the great impacts of solar unless you can afford the solar panels."

Creating employment pathways and generational change 

Schools are particularly well suited as testing grounds for budding reuse models. It's unlikely for students to leave school with their lunch trays and cutlery, so there's little concern about recovering the serve-ware for reuse. Schools are also among the few U.S. institutions to generally receive bipartisan support, creating a favorable landscape for subsidies and other government policies that can help them make the switch. 

Choosing reusable at schools also creates an opportunity to normalize reuse among a new generation. "Implementing reuse in schools here in Durham, they get it right away," Dreisbach said. "It makes sense. Whereas it's the adults you have to somehow convince." 

Some educators even consider it an ethical imperative for schools to walk the walk on environmental sustainability. "I've had some Durham school teachers explain to me that ... they believe we're causing moral harm to the children," Dreisbach told us. "Because they learn on the one hand to care for the earth and to stop wasting things, but then they go right next door to the lunchroom and there's a completely different scenario. It's creating a sort of cognitive dissonance that is building their distrust in systems and adults and wrecking their sense of what integrity is." 

As organizations like schools shift from disposable products to pickup, wash and delivery, they're also supporting local jobs at these service providers, Dreisbach said. Don't Waste Durham, for example, operates a wash facility where it pays a living wage and hires more people based on the contracts it receives. Many of the wash center's employees would otherwise struggle to find employment. 

"We created hiring pipelines through formerly incarcerated people, through the autism support and advocacy centers. We had a neuro-inclusive certified workplace. It creates jobs for underemployed people," Dreisbach said. "You could extrapolate out in a logic model — and I have — where washing dishes, I can actually show how it leads to alleviating global poverty."

What this means for brands

While schools are in a unique position to leverage reuse, these systems can be — and are — profitable for large and small businesses, too.

In San Francisco’s Chinatown, the mom-and-pop eatery House of Dim Sum now saves more than $30,000 and eliminates 2.2 million disposable items per year since switching to reusable serve-ware, according to a case study from the city's environment department and the nonprofit Clean Water Fund. In another example from the Fund's Rethink Disposable program, music venues in San Francisco saved thousands a year by switching from disposable cups to alternatives from the ​​reusable cup providers r.World and Turn. 

Upstream estimates that U.S. eateries and food-service businesses could collectively save more than $5 billion per year by switching from disposables to reusable alternatives for in-house dining. 

Large consumer brands that produce high volumes of disposable packaging, such as food, beverage and personal care companies, also have major opportunities with reuse.

Beverage companies like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Heineken, and AB InBev sell 10 percent to 30 percent of all products in refillable packaging globally. Where these systems are available, people generally like and use them. In Chile, for example, 8 in 10 households prefer to get their beverages in refillable bottles, according to 2023 polling from the ocean conservation nonprofit Oceana. But these systems are still few and far between in North America. 

Some skeptics question whether North American consumers want — or are "ready for" — return systems and refillable packaging, but Dreisbach challenged this notion as “disinformation." 

"Customers didn't ask for disposable," she said. "Yet corporations are saying, 'We need to wait until there's consumer demand for reusable before we go that way.' We did not ask for disposable in the first place. We are obligated to buy products in the packaging they come in, so we are being subjected to disposable."

Data shows U.S. consumers are already open to reuse: 74 percent said they're interested in buying products in reusable and refillable packaging, and 56 percent think it's important for brands to offer reusable options, according to 2024 polling.

Rather than waiting for a grand sign the tide as finally shifted, early-moving brands will be well positioned to stand out with consumers while paving the way for the essential infrastructure that can make reuse systems work at scale, Dreisbach said. 

"Don't wait for the demand," she advised business leaders. "Be the supply." 

Urban heat waves are increasing in frequency, duration and severity, and cities are in desperate need of solutions. One of the simpler emerging fixes is the use of cool pavement coatings. These coatings decrease both the surface temperature of the ground and the air temperature around it, according to a recent study funded by the roofing and waterproofing manufacturer GAF.

The study looked at coated pavement in the Pacoima neighborhood of Los Angeles, one of the hottest areas in the city and the site of the GAF Cool Community Project, an initiative looking for community-wide ways to address urban heat. The pavement coatings came from GAF brand StreetBond and use a technology it calls “Invisible Shade” to reflect the sun’s rays.

Similar to paint, the coatings can be applied to things like roads, playground surfaces, and sidewalks as a clear coat or as a color. This approach could help humans, pets and urban wildlife adapt to our new normal as the planet’s temperature continues to rise.

“Cool pavements are effective under a wide range of weather and environmental conditions,” said Haider Taha, lead researcher on the study and president of the atmosphere research company Altostratus, which helped develop California’s urban heat island index. “They are most effective when needed the most — that is, during the sunnier, hotter summer days. Some of the larger reductions in temperature from the cool pavement coating were observed during a heat wave event, which was an instance when the coatings were most effective.”

How do cool pavement coatings work?

“Cool pavement coatings work to increase the reflection of infrared radiation, which impacts heating at both the surface level and higher in the atmosphere,” said Eliot Wall, a senior director at GAF.

In the study, treated pavement surfaces in Pacoima measured 8 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than non-treated surfaces in the same neighborhood, according to GAF. The air temperature around the coated pavement was also up to 2 degrees Fahrenheit cooler on sunny days and up to 3.5 degrees cooler during a heat wave, Taha said. Even at night, the air was half a degree cooler. 

“Reflective pavements can be slightly less influential when there is less direct solar radiation, such as in areas that are constantly in the shade,” Taha said. “But even there, the cooling effect is significant.”

The pavement coating also has a diminished effect when skies are cloudier and there is less heat to reflect in the first place, he added. This is beneficial since it won’t increase the need for artificial heating during the winter. 

Combatting the urban heat island index

“The urban heat island index (UHII) is a measure of how much hotter an urban area is relative to its more natural surroundings,” Taha explained. “As the weather becomes hotter, the UHII increases, requiring more air conditioning and limiting residents’ ability to go outside without experiencing the effects of extreme heat.”

Cities that experience these high temperatures are known as urban heat islands and usually have few plants and trees but plenty of heat-absorbing materials like dark pavement and roofing. Combatting this phenomenon is becoming more and more important with increasing temperatures. People and animals can suffer significant negative health events, including heat-related illnesses and death, from the heat trapped in urban areas. Even a much-needed walk can result in burnt paw pads, making shade and cooler surfaces necessary for pets as well.

Residents can feel the difference

Pacoima residents are getting back outdoors thanks to the use of cool pavement coatings, Taha said. “They’ve seen children back outside and playing on the neighborhood basketball courts again,” he told us.

Community members say they feel the heat less intensely where the cool coating was applied, especially through their shoes, and want to see it used across more of the neighborhood, Wall added. 

The coating also adds to the aesthetic appeal of the neighborhood, as it is available in quite a few colors beyond the standard gray. “Solar-reflective coatings enable communities to turn pavement into works of art, making spaces beautiful and safe while mitigating extreme heat,” Taha said.

The coating can also extend the life of new roads by up to nine years, Wall said. That’s good news for residents and municipalities, as it can potentially cut down on maintenance. When applied to existing pavement, the coating should last five to seven years. 

One solution can’t fix the whole problem

The study focused on cool pavement coatings and did not include other measures of lowering urban heat, but Altostratus has done other research that shows the benefits of cool pavement coating will increase in conjunction with additional methods.

“Tackling urban heat at a community-wide level will require a toolbox of solutions in addition to shade and nature-based solutions,” Taha said. “To help communities adapt, solar-reflective coatings and cool roofing technology should be tools every municipality is looking to incorporate into infrastructure, roads, and building repairs and plans moving forward.”

No single solution will be enough to shield urban areas from rising average temperatures or increased heatwaves. As with the fight against the climate crisis in general, cities need to look toward a combination of solutions — including better public transit, expanded parks and green spaces, and more. Cool pavement coatings are a promising part of a multi-dimensional approach.

During the 16th century, castles were surrounded by grassy areas to make it easier to see the approach of enemy soldiers. Later, wealthy landowners adopted the practice, and these verdant expanses came to signify social status. After all, these areas took time and money and ate up space that could otherwise be filled with crops. 

While the lawn didn’t reach the American middle class until after the Civil War, we’ve adopted them wholeheartedly. Lawns are now the largest irrigated crop in the continental U.S., covering an area larger than Georgia. Yet these vast extents of mainly non-native grasses could be put to better use by native plants.

We’ve lost 200 native plant species since the early 1800s, and hundreds more are threatened in the U.S., according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Habitat loss, climate change, invasive species, pollution and wildfires all threaten native plant communities.

Native flora provides food and shelter for wildlife while saving landowners time and money. Filling yards, school grounds, roadsides and office landscapes with native plants can reduce our environmental footprint, one flower bed at a time. 

Native flora for the birds 

For starters, wildlife greatly benefits from native vegetation. “We think plants are just decorations and we decorate our yards with the prettiest plants from all over the world,” said Douglas Tallamy, a professor of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware. “But plants from Asia, South America or Europe do not have the co-evolutionary relationships required to support the insect-based food web. And when it comes to things like birds, that's huge.”

For instance, suburban properties in Pennsylvania filled with native vegetation have more abundant and diverse groups of birds and caterpillars than properties with a mix of non-native and native vegetation, according to one of Tallamy’s studies.

He also found similar results in hedgerows. Those invaded with non-native plants had significantly fewer insects than those with native plants. 

“There's a 68 percent reduction in the number of species of caterpillars, a 91 percent reduction in the abundance of those caterpillars, and a 96 percent reduction in the biomass, [which is] the actual amount of energy available,” Tallamy said. “So, if you say those caterpillars are bird food — and they are — you reduce bird food by 96 percent when you allow your habitat to get invaded.”

Besides birds, native plants also provide food and cover for mammals, butterflies and bees. 

Native plants benefit the environment

In addition to supporting wildlife, native plants bring other advantages to the table.

Planting native vegetation lowers the chance of introducing the next invasive species into the environment. Many invasive plants, like Kudzu or English ivy, originally escaped from landscaping or gardens in the U.S. These invaders can cause erosion, poor water quality, reduce the diversity of plants and animals, increase the risk of fires, and impact industries like forestry. 

Native plants are also a better choice for fighting climate change. While both native and non-native plants uptake carbon, lawns are not the best option.

“The very worst plan for sequestering carbon is turf grass,” Tallamy said. “It's got very short roots. We mow it every week, releasing any carbon that it did sequester.”

In addition, lawnmowers use 800 million gallons of gasoline each year, contributing to global warming. We also spill 17 million gallons of fuel while refilling lawn equipment, polluting the air and water. And, as any suburbanite knows, lawnmowers contribute to noise pollution.

Finally, native plants mitigate droughts, clean water, and prevent flooding and erosion. They also provide a source of genetic diversity for new crops and medicine and are culturally important to Indigenous groups. 

Boons to the landowner

Besides the plentiful environmental perks, homeowners also profit from native flora. First of all, it can be easier to care for, requiring less fertilizers and pesticides than lawns. Americans spread 70 million pounds of pesticides each year on their lawns, harming birds, beneficial insects and wildlife. In addition, pesticides and fertilizers can wash off into lakes, streams and rivers, killing aquatic life.

We’re not immune either — pesticide exposure is suspected to be linked to negative health effects like cancer, blood and nerve disorders, infertility and birth defects.  

Compared to lawns, native plants also save water. In the U.S., nearly one-third of our residential water goes to landscaping. Stemming the floodgates of lawn water can save money and help during droughts. 

We also gain personally if our houses are surrounded by native plants.

“There are benefits to reconnecting with nature and there are a lot of sociological studies showing that when you spend 15 minutes walking in a wood lot your blood pressure goes down, and your stress hormone — cortisol — goes down,” Tallamy said. “Particularly the stress hormone, that's related to everything. You learn better, you're a nicer person, divorces drop, learning goes up, and you heal faster [when cortisol drops].” 

But native vegetation often costs more and is less readily available compared to non-native plants. And despite the drawbacks, planting a lawn isn’t devoid of benefits. They soak up water and reduce the heat island effect.

In addition, some people also consider lawns more aesthetically pleasing than native plants, Tallamy said. However, he suggests that landowners cut their lawns in half, so they still benefit from additional trees and beds of native vegetation without losing any grassy appeal. Incorporating native plants into your lawn slowly also helps make that goal more manageable.

Sustainable gardens

Over the past two decades, urban sprawl has crept over 14,000 square miles of undeveloped land in the U.S., fueling biodiversity loss. Planting native gardens and trees is an easy way to mitigate some of this decline while also sparing endless hours of mowing. 

“We've got a biodiversity crisis. We're in the sixth great extinction that the planet has ever experienced, and it's largely because we've got this idea that humans are here and nature is someplace else,” Tallamy said. “We have to practice conservation outside of parks and preserves — that's on private property. And that means we've got to think about the way we landscape where we live, where we work, and where we play.”

The global electronic waste stream is outstripping the ability of recyclers to handle the volume of incoming material. Electric vehicles (EVs) will add even more waste to the recycling stream, as millions of EV battery packs reach their usable lifespan. The way forward is challenging, but new fuel cell projects undertaken by Honda illustrates how automakers can pursue new strategies to ease the strain on the EV battery lifecycle.

A second life for EV batteries and fuel cells

Lithium-ion EV batteries contain lithium, cobalt, and other valuable materials that incentivize recycling. However, these materials are notoriously difficult to recover from EV batteries, and the battery recycling industry is still in the process of scaling up.

In the meantime, extending the lifespan of these batteries can help ease the strain on recycling capacity. Batteries that degrade to 70 percent of their original capacity are generally considered unsuitable for use in an EV, but they can be repurposed for stationary energy storage, typically extending their life for another five to eight years.

Similarly, hydrogen fuel cells can be repurposed for a second life. Fuel cell vehicles represent a smaller but growing part of the EV field. They combine hydrogen fuel and oxygen from the air to produce an electrical current through a chemical reaction. The refueling process requires only a few minutes, comparable to the time involved in filling up a gas tank.

Honda is pursuing the second life path for EV batteries in partnership with the energy storage startup B2U. In March of 2023, Honda also unveiled a demonstration-scale power station that uses recovered fuel cells at its campus in Torrance, California. TriplePundit had an opportunity to view the power station on a tour of the campus in March. 

The company reclaimed fuel cell modules for the power station from its Clarity electric sedan. Honda introduced the fuel cell Clarity in the U.S. in 2008 under a lease program. The vehicle failed to attract strong interest among drivers and was finally discontinued in 2021.

The power station enables Honda to demonstrate how its older fuel cell technology can remain in use, and out of the waste stream, while the company introduces new technology improvements for the next generation of fuel cells.

Benefits for commercial customers

The Clarity experience provided Honda with a holistic perspective on the future application of fuel cells, beyond their use in EVs. Alvin Tsang, of Honda PR, shared the strategy behind the company’s fuel cell progress in an email to TriplePundit.

“One major difference between prior developments and the new FC [fuel cell] system development, is that, from the start, we envisioned a wider variety of uses for the systems beyond just automotive applications, including stationary fuel cell power generation, heavy industry, etc.,” Tsang explained, referring to Honda’s next-generation fuel cells developed through a partnership with General Motors.

Tsang emphasized that the next-generation fuel cells provide commercial customers with the means to eliminate diesel fuel from generators and other equipment, without sacrificing refueling time.

He also noted that Honda’s fuel cell strategy is informed by its experience in developing and marketing these technologies prior to the launch of the Clarity.

“Through each of these developments and in-market experiences of our customers, we’ve learned many lessons and applied improvements to the following systems,” he said.

The company used that process in its work with General Motors to develop its second-generation fuel cell system in the newly-introduced, battery and fuel cell hybrid version of its top-selling compact SUV, the CR-V e:FCEV, Tsang said. 

“Both companies brought knowledge from their previous FC experience to reduce cost, improve durability and, importantly, to make it easier to mass produce the FC systems,” he added.

The human factor and benefits for business

Driver behavior is one factor that has a significant impact on the lifespan of a car and on the lifespan of an EV battery. The new hybrid vehicle will provide Honda with a unique opportunity to assess driver behavior when presented with two zero-emission options, a battery and a fuel cell. In addition to a fuel cell with a 270-mile range, the new vehicle includes a small battery with a range of 29 miles.

Honda anticipates that the quick refueling time and long range will appeal to commercial drivers, while the battery can be reserved for shorter trips or when a hydrogen fuel station is not within convenient reach.

Honda is rolling it out in a limited run of just 300 vehicles this year, enabling the company to review driver feedback and data before moving into mass-market scale.

In terms of electronic waste (e-waste), the hybrid strategy will help alleviate the EV battery supply chain by enabling smaller, lighter battery packs. Honda also notes that driver awareness of the fuel cell alternative is growing.    

“The CR-V is our most popular vehicle, and it is important to offer what customers really want,” Jay Joseph, the vice president of sustainability and business development at Honda, said during the Torrance campus tour in March. “It is important that people are conscious of alternatives for transportation. As long as retail hydrogen is available, it’s important for us to make that option available.”

The company sees hydrogen as an energy option with high potential to support its customers’ personal goals of reducing their carbon emissions, Tsang said. 

“Commercial CR-V e:FCEV customers will immediately experience the benefits of zero-emission and fast hydrogen refueling and can point to their use of this advanced technology as their contribution to the future of sustainable transportation,” he said.

Taking on the e-waste crisis

Honda is also among the automakers taking steps to build more circularity into the EV battery supply chain. The company has an agreement with the U.S. recycler Ascend Elements to recover lithium, nickel, cobalt and other materials for re-use.

Beyond EV batteries, the need for action on the entire spectrum of e-waste is clear. “The world’s generation of electronic waste is rising five times faster than documented e-waste recycling,” according to a report from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research and the International Telecommunications Union. “Worldwide, the annual generation of e-waste is rising by 2.6 million tonnes annually, on track to reach 82 million tonnes by 2030, a further 33 percent increase from the 2022 figure.”

Building more longevity and circularity into the EV lifecycle can help automakers, and their commercial customers, reduce their role in the e-waste stream. For non-commercial use, though, a more holistic solution would involve less focus on individually owned cars, and an increased focus on mass transportation, walkable communities and other alternatives.

This story is part of our investigative solutions journalism series exploring the hidden human rights costs of the low-carbon transition and potential interventions to prevent the negative impacts of mining as we race toward the net-zero energy transition. 

“I am not one to shy away from hard truths — human rights violations continue to occur with unacceptable and heart-breaking frequency,” Rohitesh Dhawan, CEO of the International Council on Mining and Metals, said in the organization’s human rights due diligence guidance for mining companies.

Human rights abuses, environmental degradation, and land seizures are an unfortunate reality of the push to bring minerals to market. Bringing those minerals to market, however, is a critical part of the plan to transition away from fossil fuels and towards clean, renewable energy sources.

It’s a tricky balance.

“We can't use the energy transition as an excuse to completely forget about the rights of communities just by saying we need to scale energy,” said Lisa Sachs, director of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment. “Nor do I think that we should take the stance that mining is so impactful that we can't scale clean energy technologies. We grapple very much with the tensions.”

One of the major obstacles impeding governments from enacting adequate environmental and social policies is the threat of being sued by foreign companies. 

For example, if a government decides that all mining projects now require the free, prior and informed consent of affected Indigenous groups, mining companies might argue that those weren’t the terms under which the initial contract was signed, and enacting that law breaches their rights. 

For these company-government disputes, also known as investor-state disputes, there is a mechanism that allows companies to sue the national government in international arbitration proceedings. This is called an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) and has led to billion-dollar rulings favoring foreign companies.

The mechanism is necessary to resolve legal disputes and mobilize private investment, according to a spokesperson for the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, the World Bank Group organization that oversees most of these cases.

But human rights and environmental organizations are not convinced in the slightest.

How can an investor-state dispute settlement be activated?

Investor-state dispute settlements are provisions written into more than 3,000 international free trade agreements. These can be multilateral agreements between multiple countries, or bilateral investment agreements between just two countries. 

Perhaps you’ll remember the Keystone XL pipeline that was proposed to bring crude oil from Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska. Amidst huge protests and environmental concerns, the permit for the pipeline was ultimately revoked in an executive order from President Joe Biden in January 2021. Using the provisions afforded under the North American Free Trade Agreement — now named the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement — the Canadian oil company launched an investor-state dispute settlement case, suing the U.S. government for $15 billion. The case is still pending.

Is it used often?

It’s not for lack of use that these settlements remain relatively unknown to the public. As of mid-2023, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development reported that there are 1,303 known cases. The Investment Arbitration Reporter has tracked over 2,200 cases.

The claims in many of these cases involve sky-high dollar amounts, some of which are up to $40 billion, on par with the annual GDP of medium-sized countries like Paraguay, Latvia or Senegal. In one mind-boggling case, Zeph Investments is suing Australia for $300 billion for rejecting its iron mining project. The claim was listed as a risk to the federal budget.

In another case, the Australia-based Tethyan Copper Company claimed $11.43 billion in damages from Pakistan for denying approval of a mine. Tethyan won the case and Pakistan was ordered to pay the company $6 billion in damages, roughly 27 times the value of the initial $220 million investment.

Eco Oro Minerals sued Colombia for $700 million in a case we covered previously in this responsible mining series. The courts ruled in Eco Oro’s favor but are still determining the required payout amount.

Recently, First Quantum’s copper mine in Panama was ruled unconstitutional and forced to close by the Panamanian government after massive public protests — a case we also covered regarding transparency of mining contracts and concessions. The Canadian company has since taken action to sue Panama for $20 billion.

The list goes on, and on and on.

Countries are backing out 

“ISDS provides huge empowerment of multinational corporations over other societal interests and a totally imbalanced system,” said Stuart Trew, director of the Trade and Investment Research Project at the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives. “Not even national firms have access to those kinds of rights in their own country, yet foreign companies do.” 

Canada recently backed out of the provisions for these settlements in the revamped U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement. “ISDS elevates the rights of corporations over those of sovereign governments,” Chrystia Freeland, the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, said of the decision in 2018. “In removing it, we have strengthened our government’s right to regulate in the public interest, to protect public health and the environment.”

Many other countries have also withdrawn from the settlements. Ecuador, Bolivia, Honduras, Venezuela, South Africa, and India have all taken steps to remove exposure to them.

“ISDS creates a real moral hazard because a company could behave poorly — no due diligence, no community consultations, not getting the appropriate licenses,” said Sachs, of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment. “And then claim in an ISDS tribunal that the state told them their project would move forward, so they now have an obligation to make it move forward.”

Ecuador’s government recently tried to reintroduce these settlements in its free trade agreements, notably in one it is negotiating with Canada now. Canada has the most foreign investment in Ecuador of any country and is home to around 75 percent of the world’s mining companies. But they needed the public to overturn a constitutional ban on the settlements that was introduced in 2008. The Ecuadorian public voted against the reintroduction on April 21, 2024.

“It is mainly the rich countries that are eliminating it since it has been used against them. It is clear how it is remaining a neocolonial tool,” said Manuel Pérez-Rocha, associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. “Countries in the global south need to eliminate it too.”

Investor-state dispute settlements undermine human rights and environmental laws

Critics of the system argue that these settlements undermine a country’s sovereignty, allowing foreign companies to influence which laws can be passed.

“Some countries would rather cave in to the investors’ demands than face a potentially billion-dollar claim against them,” said Trew, of the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives. “This is sometimes referred to as the regulatory chill aspect.”

That can be detrimental to human rights and the environment. 

“ISDS privileges investment over considerations of environmental protection, human health, protection of communities and local economies — all of that goes out the window when you get involved in arbitration,” said Jamie Kneen, co-manager of Mining Watch Canada.

The European Union agreed to leave the Energy Charter Treaty which allows for the use of these settlements between the 51 signatories, made up of European and Asian countries. EU officials said that the treaty, which allows energy companies to sue governments over new climate policies, undermines efforts to fight climate change. 

What effect would removing these settlements have?

Getting rid of investor-state dispute settlements “would weaken the rule of law by removing an important means to resolve international investment disputes,” an International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes spokesperson said. “This would be detrimental to mobilizing the vast amounts of private investment required for the green energy transition by raising costs and deterring investment in some states.”

Critics don’t see it that way.

“Companies are going to go where the resources are,” Trew said. “What they need is infrastructure and then some degree of state coordination to get the minerals to market. They don’t need the investment treaties.”

Many studies have tried to determine the effect these settlements have on attracting investment. The results are inconclusive, but one analysis found that the “effect of international investment agreements is so small as to be considered zero.”

Brazil, for example, attracts the sixth largest amount of foreign direct investment worldwide, even though they have never engaged in investor-state dispute settlement trade agreements. 

Critics say that removing these provisions would not hinder the ability of mining companies to bring minerals to market, nor deter foreign investment. 

“Mining companies go where there's going to be profits,” Sachs said. “They don't go where the treaties are.”

They also suggest that investor-state disputes should be handled within the host government’s judicial system.

“Ideally, you would have a contract spelling out the terms of the agreement, and then that could be taken to domestic courts to settle disputes, which is where we should be sending disputes between investors and governments,” Trew said.

As it stands, the system has turned into a business opportunity in its own right. Litigation finance companies and hedge fund managers, who have no stake or interest in the original development projects, are stepping in to fund the settlement process for mining companies. They’re staking millions of dollars, banking on the fact that the case will go in their favor, and reaping millions or billions in rewards.

It’s a messy component of international law that provides more protections for private companies than it does for countries and their citizens. One of the major issues is that the system operates well outside of public view.

“ISDS cases are heard in this private context, often not even known to the public with no ability of the states or other interested parties to participate,” Sachs said. “They’re not governed by any rules of domestic law or procedure and there’s no recognition of its conflict with international human rights law or international environmental commitments — and the awards are staggering.”

With greater public knowledge of these cases, greater public pressure gets placed on governments to scrap the settlements from trade agreements. In the U.S., President Biden has felt the pressure and said that they do not belong in any future agreements. While this does not affect the free trade agreements already signed, it’s a step in the right direction for anyone concerned about the environment and human rights.