Conflicts between foreign investment law and environmental law are becoming increasingly frequent. On the one hand, the rise of environmental regulation poses significant challenges to foreign investors in several industries. On the other, the surge in investment arbitration proceedings is making States aware of the important litigation risks that may result from the adoption of environmental regulation. This study of the relationship between these two areas of law adopts both a policy and a practical perspective. It identifies the major challenges facing States, foreign investors and their legal advisers as a result of the potential friction between investment law and environmental law and provides a detailed analysis of all the major legal issues on the basis of a comprehensive study of the jurisprudence from investment tribunals, human rights courts and bodies, the ICJ, the WTO, the ITLOS, the CJEU and other adjudication mechanisms.
• Provides a prospective analysis of the evolution of the interactions between environmental law and investment law • Analysis of international jurisprudence goes beyond investment cases to cover cases decided by many different tribunals, courts and bodies, thus allowing readers to take into account a wider array of cases relevant to the topic • Provides a balanced and reliable account of the current state of the law that avoids activism and disentangles 'hard' law from progressive development
Contents
Introductory observations; Part I. Setting the Framework: 1. The increasing interactions between foreign investment law and international environmental law; 2. Conceptualising interactions; 3. Synergies; 4. Conflicts I – soft-control mechanisms; 5. Conflicts II – adjudication mechanisms; Part II. Normative Conflicts: 6. Normative priority in international law; 7. Foreign investment and the international regulation of freshwater; 8. Foreign investment and the protection of biological and cultural diversity; 9. Foreign investment and the international regulation of dangerous substances and activities; 10. Foreign investment and the climate change regime; Part III. Legitimacy Conflicts: 11. Normative priority between different legal systems; 12. Environmental measures and expropriation clauses; 13. Environmental measures and non-discrimination standards; 14. Environmental measures, stability and due process; 15. Defence arguments based on environmental considerations; Concluding observations.
Reviews
'[This] book provides a comprehensive analysis of the intersections of foreign investment law and international environmental law. The treatment is balanced and well-reasoned. The book fills an important lacuna in the literature.' Edith Brown Weiss, Francis Cabell Brown Professor of International Law, Georgetown University
'A thorough and interesting survey on the intersection between international environmental law and investment law. The book provides helpful analysis of the legal issues, synergies, and conflicts that may arise as these two traditionally distinct areas of international law continue to evolve and become more interconnected. It will certainly be an invaluable resource for both practitioners and scholars of international law.' Meg Kinnear, Secretary-General of ICSID
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