Geopolitcal Monitor: Ecuagoldmining v Ecuador: Mining, the Environment, and International Arbitration

"Ecuagoldmining v Ecuador: Mining, the Environment, and International Arbitration"

Wilder Alejandro Sanchez and Lucia Scripcari
Situation Reports
Geopolitical Monitor
June 4, 2020
Originally published: https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/ecuagoldmining-v-ecuador-mining-the-environment-and-international-arbitration/

 

The Chinese-owned mining company Ecuagoldmining has notified the government of Ecuador its intention to begin an arbitration process if the two sides cannot negotiate a solution on the status of a major mining operation that has been halted for almost two years due to local protests and local judicial decisions.

At first glance, this appears to be a standard investor-state dispute, particularly as protests against mining operations in developing states are quite common. Nevertheless, there are several factors at play that make this case worthy of greater analysis, including the size of the award that Ecuagoldmining is requesting, as well as Ecuador’s complex situation in international arbitration nowadays after leaving the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and terminating most of its Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs).

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