"Responsible investment provisions in international investment treaties: where next?", 16 Oct 2017

The system of international investment treaties is at a crossroads. The standards of investment protection embodied in those treaties, and the legal arrangements that enable investors to bring arbitration claims against states, are driving heated debates.

Several states are reviewing their investment treaty policies to recalibrate investment protection standards, and some are exploring options to address perceived shortcomings of investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms (ISDS).

As debates intensify, there is a risk of neglecting an important area: how treaty reform could promote more responsible investment and advance sustainable development…

Responsible investment provisions remain rare and often seem underdeveloped relative to other treaty clauses…

…Many of the international instruments that investment treaties could refer to are directed at states rather than investors…

Third, many fundamental questions remain unresolved, such as how to ensure that responsible investment provisions have legal bite. Simply referencing international standards is unlikely to have much effect…