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Key Message

Without investment, sustainable development is impossible. Well planned, high quality foreign investment in developed and developing countries can help make current economic practices more sustainable. Inappropriate investment, however, can undermine communities and the environment, as well as domestic development strategies. IISD examines how the rules and institutions that govern international investment flows can be improved so as to help developing countries, in particular, attract the sort of investment that promotes sustainable development.

Video


Mark Halle sees investment as critical to addressing sustainable development. (Flash Video - 1:47 min)

Team


Mark Halle· Mark Halle
Director - Trade and Investment, and European Representative
Aaron Cosbey· Aaron Cosbey
Associate and Senior Climate Change and Trade Advisor
Fiona Marshall· Fiona Marshall
Associate
Flavia Thomé· Flavia Thomé
Programme Administrator
Howard Mann· Howard Mann
Associate & Senior International Law Advisor
Mahnaz Malik· Mahnaz Malik
Associate
Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder· Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder
Program Leader

Foreign Investment for SD

A global agenda for change in international investment law, policy and institutions

What's New in Foreign Investment for SD?

  • A Thirst for Distant Lands: Foreign investment in agricultural land and water (PDF - 442 kb)
    This paper provides a synopsis of current trends in the expansion of foreign investment in agriculture. Drawing on current literature, media reports and a series of interviews, the paper looks at the causes, the mechanisms and the growth, in particular, of long-distance farming for home country consumption. The paper considers both the land and water issues that are involved. It focuses in particular on the linkage between domestic law, international investment contracts and international investment treaties. Each of these three sources of law can have positive and negative implications for community and individual rights to land, water and food.

  • Second Annual Forum of Developing Country Investment Negotiators, Marrakech, Nov. 2-4, 2008
    IISD, the South Centre and Investir au Maroc are hosting the Second Annual Forum in Marrakech on 2-4 November, 2008. This second session of the Forum follows on last year's successful meeting in Singapore. Over 50 negotiators are anticipated to participate in the meeting. The agenda and conference materials can be found here.

  • International Investment Agreements, Business and Human Rights: Key Issues and Opportunities (PDF - 415 kb)
    The paper was prepared for Prof. John Ruggie, UN Special Representative to the Secretary General for Business and Human Rights. It explores the full range of issues that arise between international investment agreements, business and human rights, focusing on the key duties of states to protect and promote human rights, and the responsibilities of business to respect human rights.

    Do investment agreements help or hurt the pursuit of these roles?
    The paper also takes a first look at the relationship of Host Government Agreements to international investment treaties in the human rights context. The paper concludes the existing investment treaty regime does nothing to either enhance the relationship between business and human rights, or to ensure investors fulfill their responsibility to respect human rights. Moreover, it can negatively impact the duty of host states to protect and promote human rights. However, the paper notes this need not be the case, and suggests specific approaches to enhancing this relationship, and to embed human rights values into the international investment law regime.

  • UNCITRAL Working Group rebuffs calls for greater transparency in investor-State arbitration (PDF - 227 kb)
    The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group on Arbitration has set back calls by many states and non-governmental organizations to discuss introducing transparency requirements into international rules governing arbitrations brought by private foreign investors against states.

    IISD expressed its deep disappointment at the efforts of some governments to block the inclusion of transparency provisions in the revised Rules, following the UNCITRAL Working Group's session in New York, February 4 to 8, 2008.

    The UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules are the second-most used rules for arbitrations by foreign investors against states. However, the Rules were drafted 30 years ago with private commercial disputes in mind and do not address the public interest implications of investor-state disputes.

    IISD and Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) have issued a joint press release (PDF - 59 kb), as well as a joint paper (PDF - 227 kb) showing how the UNCITRAL Rules can be simply amended to address the needs of investor-state arbitrations.

IISD has been breaking new ground on investment and sustainable development issues since 1998.

Investment is critical for sustainable development, which requires fundamental changes in how we produce, distribute and dispose of goods. Today this kind of change must come mainly through investment in new technologies and new processes that can replace unsustainable practices. In developing countries, where domestic sources of capital are scarce, foreign direct investment plays a significant role.

But not all investment leads to sustainable development, and not all of the global rules and institutions relating to international investment have been conceived through a sustainable development lens. IISD's work on investment and sustainable development focuses on this critical linkage, and provides new approaches to ensure that investment law and policy will make a positive contribution to sustainable development.

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