Investment law and policy can play a significant role in either addressing — or exacerbating — some of the world’s greatest challenges, from climate change to human rights and environmental protection. In light of this, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has developed a work program on “The Future of Investment Treaties,” which recognizes the need to reshape investment treaties so they facilitate rather than impede progress toward tackling these challenges.
As part of this work, OECD launched a public consultation in early 2022 to gather views from a wide range of stakeholders on how policy-makers can redesign investment treaties and policies in response to the escalating climate crisis. Government representatives will discuss the submissions received at the 7th annual OECD Investment Treaty Conference on May 10, 2022.
Together with ClientEarth and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) we submitted a joint-contribution to the OECD consultation on Investment Agreements and Climate Change discussing: the obstacles that investment agreements and investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms pose to climate action; the barriers to change in the investment treaty regime; and including policy recommendations.