Global Research Alliance for Sustainable Finance and Investment 3rd Annual Conference
Date: September 10-11, 2020
Location: Faculty House, Columbia University, New York
Investment Law and Policy
Executive Training on Investment Treaties and Arbitration for Government Officials
Date: June 15-25, 2020
Location: Columbia Law School, room TBA
The Global Rush to Foreign Direct Investment Screenings
Date: February 24, 2020, 4:00-6:00pm
Location: Columbia University, International Affairs Building, Room 918
Aligning Investment Treaties with Sustainable Development
Policy makers and other stakeholders are currently asking fundamental questions about whether and to what extent international investment agreements (IIAs) are consistent with and are helping to advance sustainable development objectives at home and abroad. A 2019 paper from CCSI examines the alignment of IIAs with the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, arguing that while FDI will play an… read more
IIAs and Investor (Mis) Conduct
By Lise Johnson
January 14, 2019
The issue of investor responsibilities in investment law is – and should be — gaining prominence. Questions regarding whether and how investor responsibilities are, could, and should, be incorporated into or otherwise interact with international investment law and international investment agreements (IIAs) are a crucial part of the conversation regarding international investment law and policy, and reform thereof.
Access to Justice and Corporate Accountability for Investment-Related Harms: Opportunities and Limitations of the International Investment Regime
By Jesse Coleman
January 14, 2019
Can the investment regime be used to enhanced access to remedy and corporate accountability for human rights abuses in the context of international investment? If so, how?
Investor-State Mediation: An Opportunity to Advance Sustainable Outcomes
By Brooke Skartvedt Güven
January 3, 2020
Investor-state mediation is a mechanism that is increasingly considered as a way to resolve disputes between companies and their host-country governments. Mediation merits exploration precisely because it can be adapted by the parties to the circumstances of any particular investment-related issue and be used to support mutually-beneficial outcomes. In this way, its malleability should be viewed as a tool that, if properly used, could overcome the failures of the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) system evidenced by the current “legitimacy crisis” that ISDS faces. However, to the extent mediation’s flexibilities are used to facilitate processes or outcomes that sideline domestic legal processes, third-party rights and interests, and norms of democratic accountability and the rule of law, it will undoubtedly meet the same fate as ISDS.
Advancing Sustainable Development by Facilitating Sustainable FDI, Promoting CSR, Designating Recognized Sustainable Investors, and Giving Home Countries a Role
By Karl P. Sauvant, Resident Senior Fellow, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, and Evan Gabor, J.D. candidate, Columbia Law School. Foreign direct investment (“FDI”) can be an important vehicle for development. However, in recent years, the focus has not just been on development generally, but sustainable development specifically. Thus, this paper focuses on how countries… read more
Environmental Injustice: How Treaties Undermine the Right to a Healthy Environment
By Lisa Sachs, Ella Merrill, and Lise Johnson
December 9, 2019
Our planet faces unprecedented threats, including irreversible global warming, loss in biodiversity, and water pollution and water scarcity. The impacts of these environmental crises also threaten human rights and exacerbate inequality. Slowing these worsening environmental trends – and addressing the impacts of environmental change on populations – will require cumulative policy responses at the national and international level.
Webinar on Investment Treaties and Human Rights Law: Interactions and Recent Developments
Date: November 21, 2019
Location: Webinar