A framework of international, national and sub-national law and contracts governs international investment and is a fundamental factor in determining whether, when and how countries and communities can benefit from those capital flows. CCSI explores elements of that legal framework, including the impact of investment treaties, investor-state dispute settlement and home and host government policies governing inward and outward investment.
A core part of CCSI’s work focuses on international investment agreements (IIAs), examining how such treaties can be designed to promote the type of FDI that can help countries meet their sustainable development goals, while also leaving governments adequate policy space to regulate in the public interest. This includes various components such as mapping the domestic policy frameworks in developed and developing countries that are governing FDI flows; identifying potential conflicts between IIAs and governments’ domestic policy space and identifying strategies for resolving those tensions in existing and future agreements; and analyzing investor-state arbitration – the mechanism used to enforce IIA obligations – and furthering dialogue and reform efforts designed to ensure that that method of dispute resolution meets the needs of its stakeholders.
An illustrative diagram of CCSI’s work at the intersection of investment law and policy and the Sustainable Development Goals is available here.