Environmental Concerns in International Investment Agreements: A Survey

36 Pages Posted: 3 Jun 2011

See all articles by Kathryn Gordon

Kathryn Gordon

Investment Division, OECD

Joachim Pohl

Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) - Investment Division

Date Written: May 31, 2011

Abstract

International investment agreements define State commitments on investment protection, but also shed light on how these commitments are to be integrated with other public policy objectives. Investment protection in the context of environmental regulation has been a frequent source of controversy and investor-state disputes. In order to enhance the factual basis for debate in this policy area, the present survey establishes a statistical portrait of governments’ investment treaty writing practices in relation to environmental concerns in a sample of 1,623 IIAs, roughly half of the global investment treaty population. The survey provides a statistical portrait of the extent, kind and frequency of treaty language referring to environmental concerns and the evolution of the use of such language over time. It shows that: i) over time, more treaties contain such language; ii) only about 8% of the sample treaties include references to environmental concerns; and iii) there are wide variations in the content of such language, both across countries and across time.

Keywords: foreign investment, international investment, international investment law, international environmental law, international investment agreements, bilateral investment treaties, environmental protection, international arbitration, regulation

JEL Classification: F02, F18, F21, F23, F42, F53, K32, K33, N40, N50, N70, Q56, Q58

Suggested Citation

Gordon, Kathryn and Pohl, Joachim, Environmental Concerns in International Investment Agreements: A Survey (May 31, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1856465 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1856465

Kathryn Gordon (Contact Author)

Investment Division, OECD ( email )

2 rue André Pascal
Paris, 75016
France
(331) 45 24 98 42 (Phone)
(331) 45 24 90 50 (Fax)

Joachim Pohl

Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) - Investment Division ( email )

2 rue André Pascal
Paris, 75775
France

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