Investment Law & Policy
IISD works with governments, international institutions, civil society, media, and academia to reform investment governance. Our mission is to align international investment with sustainable development and climate action.
Sustainable development is an investment issue. International investment is crucial for alleviating poverty, tackling climate change, creating good jobs, building critical infrastructure, and enabling access to clean energy. Investment holds the key to a more fair and sustainable world economy.
IISD's global team of investment experts engages with governments, international institutions, academics, civil society, and media to identify the change needed, advance reform solutions, and support their implementation.
We examine how to improve the rules, practices, and institutions that govern investment; create platforms for collaboration and peer learning among partners, policy-makers, and experts; and advance concrete solutions based on our independent research. IISD' flagship journal, Investment Treaty News has brought new analysis and ideas on investment governance and sustainable development to a global readership for 25 years.
Workshops and advisory services
We provide workshops, training, and advisory services to policy-makers from developing countries from Africa and Asia to Latin America and the Caribbean—raising awareness, providing practical tools and platforms for collaborations, and advising on policy solutions.
Investment Policy Forum: Driving bottom-up reform
IISD is the host organization of the Investment Policy Forum—a unique event, founded in 2007, that brings together investment policy-makers from developing countries across the world to strategize, share knowledge and experiences, and brainstorm new ideas for investment reform.
Tackling investor-state dispute settlements
One of our core missions is to drive reform of the outdated investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) system under investment treaties and contracts and rethink global investment governance—so that investment can be channeled toward the world's urgent sustainable development challenges and support climate action, local and indigenous communities, and environmental protection.
We engage with media to inform the conversation on investment reform, including news outlets, such as Financial Times, the Guardian, and Forbes, legal and investment media, such as Law360 and FDI Intelligence, and regional agenda-setters, such as African Arguments and Afrik21.
Engaging in international reform
At the heart of our engagement in international investment reform is our role in the Task Force for the Investment Protocol of the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as well as our observer membership of the United Nations Conference on International Trade Law process for ISDS reform (the so-called UNCITRAL Working Group III).
We play a leading role in reforming energy investment governance and removing one of the key remaining obstacles to Europe's climate transition—the Energy Charter Treaty, including its sunset clause—through public awareness raising, engagement with policy-makers, and advancing legal solutions.
In addition, IISD's Investment team engages in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)'s work program on the Future of Investment Treaties and is a member of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Multi-Stakeholder Platform on International Investment Agreement Reform.
Flagship initiatives
Investment Policy Forum
IISD's Investment Policy Forum is the world's only platform for investment negotiators from developing countries and a driving force for global sustainable investment reform.
Investment Treaty News
Investment Treaty News is IISD's long-running flagship journal, offering our global readership the latest news, analysis, and ideas on how international investment impacts sustainable development.
Rethinking International Investment Governance
Dissecting the key issues with the current regime and leads the way toward fair, inclusive, and sustainable international investment governance.
What we do
Webinars on Investment Law and Policy
IISD's webinars provide key information, cutting analysis, and lively discussions on the latest developments in international law and policy.
Creating Sustainable Reform
IISD works with governments, international institutions, academics, and civil society to propose and support reform in international investment treaties, laws and policies. We are leading the way on global investor-state dispute settlement reform.
Advisory Services, Technical Support, and Workshops
IISD's international lawyers and policy experts provide training courses, workshops, and a range of advisory services for developing economy officials—covering investment treaties, laws and contracts, negotiations, and dispute prevention and management.
Best Practices Policy Bulletins
IISD's Best Practices Series analyzes the evolving scope and nature of investment treaty negotiations, drawing on public treaty texts and model agreements from governments.
In the News
Oil majors sue Dutch government over closure of major gas field
Shell and Exxon Mobil are suing the Dutch government over the closure of a major gas field in Groningen, and over payouts to residents for damages tied to extraction. The suit is possible under a complicated international framework known as Investor-State Dispute Settlements. IISD policy expert Lukas Schaugg speaks about how these disputes work and their increasing use in attempts to delay and dissuade climate litigation.
Clarity from The Hague
IISD experts write on the International Court of Justice's long-awaited advisory opinion on the "Duties of States with Respect to Climate Change." In the opinion, the court confirmed that states have an obligation under existing international law to prevent significant damage to the climate system. Failure to fulfill this obligation can result in liability.
One Small Country, Nearly $20 Billion in Corporate Claims
Using a secretive arbitration system, multinational companies could bankrupt Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the world. A recent advisory opinion from a human-rights court calls for an overhaul.
Woodside Affair: Senegal will 'defend its interests' (Lawyer)
IISD's Suzy Nikièma comments on the tax dispute between the Senegalese government and the oil company Woodside.
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Experts
Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder
Vice-President, Global Strategies and Managing Director, Europe
Suzy H. Nikièma
Director, Sustainable Investment
Josef Ostřanský
Senior Policy Advisor, Sustainable Investment
Nyaguthii Maina
Associate
Lukas Schaugg
Policy Advisor
Florencia Sarmiento
Policy Advisor
Isaak Bowers
Senior Communications Officer
Yelena Bugakova
Project Manager
Kudzai Mataba
Policy Advisor, Tax and Investment
Josefina del Rosario Lago
Policy Analyst, Tax and Investment
Abas Kinda
Associate
Hans Baumgarten
Strategic Advisor
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