Academic experts on investment law, arbitration and regulatory policy, many of them from Canadian universities, issued a statement today that urges states to "review their investment treaties with a view to withdrawing from or renegotiating them... take steps to replace or curtail the use of investment treaty arbitration; and ... strengthen their domestic justice system for the benefit of all citizens and communities, including investors."

We are constantly hearing the same refrain from the U.S., the EU and from Stephen Harper: developed countries aren't going to commit to anything like the Kyoto targets for reducing greenhouse gases until the big emitters from the emerging nations like China and India do the same.

Putting aside the historical unfairness of such a position -- the West never counts the billions of tonnes of emissions they put out while industrializing their nations -- a recent WTO challenge by the U.S. and EU reeks of hypocrisy on the climate change front.