International Trade, Investment and Sustainability

2021 ◽  
pp. 7-21
Author(s):  
Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger
Keyword(s):  
International Economic ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Economic Law ◽  
Working Definition ◽  
International Economic Law ◽  
Need To Evaluate ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Trade And Investment

This chapter begins by discussing the potential negative effects of trade on sustainable development, and the changes in the rules of trade and investment regimes that could lead to these negative impacts. It also discusses the rise of impact assessment processes, which States, regions and international organizations have begun to commission, to model and analyse the potential environmental and social/human rights impacts of trade and investment liberalization. It introduces the new generation of regional and bilateral trade and investment treaties being negotiated, and the need to evaluate how States are addressing sustainability concerns that emerge from impact assessments of these treaties. It also provides a working definition of ‘sustainable development’ and uncovers the circumstances and provisions under which international economic law levers are more likely to foster sustainable development, as well as the most effective interpretive weight for them. Finally, it highlights the utility of insights on international economic law and sustainability.

A Future Agenda for Crafting ‘Athena’s Treaties’ on Trade and Investment for Sustainable Development

2021 ◽  
pp. 324-328
Author(s):  
Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger
Keyword(s):  
International Economic ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Regulatory Elements ◽  
Single Measure ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Process Innovations ◽  
Economic Law ◽  
International Economic Law ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Trade And Investment

This final chapter briefly discusses the volume’s key findings, including that many trade and investment agreements contain provisions with potential to contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It discusses the implications of the findings for international economic law more broadly, recognizing that no one single measure can provide ‘the solution’ to all trade- and investment-related sustainable development challenges and that many different provisions may be needed throughout the treaty, addressing potential impacts as they arise. It also highlights areas for further development, particularly in terms of ‘process’ innovations, such as sustainability impact assessments (SIAs). Further, the chapter canvasses areas of need for further legal research, which may be needed to monitor and propose improvements in State attempts to address regulatory elements in SIA and other processes. Finally, this chapter highlights the contribution of the volume to promoting sustainable development in trade and investment policy, serving as a useful tool for more sustainable international economic law and policy-making in the future.

scholarly journals Economic component of the sustainable development concept

2020 ◽  
pp. 378-382
Author(s):  
Oleksandr Kharchuk
Keyword(s):  
International Economic ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
International Cooperation ◽  
National Level ◽  
International Economic Order ◽  
Development Cooperation ◽  
Economic Law ◽  
Right To Development ◽  
International Economic Law ◽  
The Right

The article deals with the problem of the realization of the right to development in international economic law in the context ofthe development of international cooperation. The normative component of the right to development is considered. The relationshipbetween the right to development and the system of principles of international economic law is analyzed.The normative fixing of the elements of the right to development in international legal instruments is defined. The application ofthe right to development in the practice of international organizations is shown. The article also discusses the challenges of today’s sustainabledevelopment.Sustainable development is based on three main elements: environmental, economic and social equality. The right to developmentcan’t be imagined without the institutional mechanisms of international economic law. It is clear that the activities of institutional institutions at the global, regional and subregional levels contribute to the development of partnerships at the interstate level in order toachieve development. Cooperation of states at the institutional level influences the formation of the modern international economicorder. Implementing sustainable development at the national level is a difficult task due to the vagueness of national legislation, lackof funding and lack of adequate institutional capacity. An important element in exercising the right to development is the developmentof effective mechanisms for international cooperation. Transformations in this direction require coordination, mutual responsibility andaccountability, interest and efficiency. It is clear that the activities of international institutions at the global, regional and subregionallevels promote the development of partner relations at the interstate level in order to achieve development. Cooperation of states at theinstitutional level affects the formation of modern international economic order, accelerates the formation of important conceptual provisionsof a legal, economic and political nature and promotes global development. Transformation in this direction requires coordinationof action, mutual accountability and reporting, interest and effectiveness. The enhancement of transparency and accountability inthe use of development provides assistance in creation of effective and mutually beneficial partnerships in this area.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Munro
Keyword(s):  
International Economic ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Emissions Trading ◽  
Economic Law ◽  
International Economic Law ◽  
Treaty Interpretation ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change ◽  
Principal Parts ◽  
Trade And Investment

This book addresses whether and how emissions trading schemes to mitigate climate change are subject to the network of treaties comprising the international trade and investment regime, collectively referred to as international economic law. Chapter 1 introduces the broad structure and content of the book, which is divided into three principal parts. Part I, comprising Chapters 2 and 3, sets out the approach of the book, insofar as it involves initial process of treaty interpretation to determine the scope and content of relevant aspects of international economic law (including any relevant interaction with the international climate regime), followed by a subsequent process of applying the resulting interpretations to carbon units and the aspects of emissions trading schemes that affect their trade and investment in ways which attract the scrutiny of international economic law. Part II, covering Chapters 4–7, then seeks to ascertain whether carbon units are subject to international economic law by evaluating whether they qualify as ‘goods’/‘products’, ‘services’, ‘financial services’, and ‘investments’. Having determined that carbon units are, to varying extents, subject to international economic law, Part III (comprising Chapters 8 and 9) assesses the consistency of emissions trading schemes and their rules affecting carbon units with that body of law.

International Business and Commerce

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Z. Cass
Keyword(s):  
International Economic ◽  
International Law ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Public International Law ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Economic Law ◽  
International Economic Law ◽  
Traditional Sense ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Rule Making

This article analyzes some recurrent themes in that portion of the field which is sometimes referred to as international economic law, namely public international law structures that regulate economic relations and exchange between states, with a primary emphasis upon trade. It suggests that six features characterize current legal scholarship on international economic law relating to business and commerce: a focus on institutions and on constitutions as a means to enhance the authority and legitimacy of the rule-making order; an interdependence with wider scholarship about globalization; a general consensus about the benefits of liberalization and the international economic law framework which supports it, punctuated by occasional critique; a concentration on regulation rather than ‘law’ in the traditional sense; a fixation with the problem of definition of its own scope; and a belief in its transformative nature capable of facilitating improvements in the legal order generally. The aim of this article is to describe and analyse the broad contours of each of these features before critiquing them and suggesting some possible avenues of future research.

scholarly journals International economic law and the quest for universality

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence Boisson de Chazournes
Keyword(s):  
International Economic ◽  
International Law ◽  
Final Analysis ◽  
Economic Law ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
International Economic Law ◽  
Investment Law ◽  
Enabling Clause ◽  
Trade And Investment

AbstractThe quest for universality in international economic law has met many obstacles. This article begins from the proposition that there are various ways to conceive of universality in international law, for example whether the rules are accepted widely among states (omnipresence) or whether they are broadly coherent (generality). Homing in on trade and investment law, the article assesses how each of these areas has functioned as a testing ground for these different conceptions. An in-built quasi-universality characterizes international trade law with the WTO as a seemingly centralized universal institution. Such universality, however, has often been achieved through differentiation of rights and obligations (e.g., the Enabling Clause and regional trade agreements). In investment law, attempts at universalization through the construction of centralized institutions have failed. Nevertheless, certain common standards have emerged in this fragmented regime. There is also a debate around the use of the MFN clause as a universalizing tool and renewed efforts to universalize investment law are afoot. More generally, it is clear that there is little appetite for codification of international economic law, and that states wish to control its content through the conclusion of treaties. In the final analysis, this article asks whether it is time to conceive of universality differently, and particularly whether equity and collective preferences should be a more central part of the quest.

scholarly journals (Un)Sustainable Development(s) in International Economic Law: A Quest for Sustainability

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 4022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Aseeva
Keyword(s):  
International Economic ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Economic Governance ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Private Companies ◽  
Economic Law ◽  
International Economic Law ◽  
Over Exploitation

This article aims to contribute to the ongoing debate on post-capitalist economy by exploring the contours of a sustainability-oriented model of economic governance. To this end, the article analyzes the issues of sustainable development in the three main strands of international economic law (trade, investment, and finance) at national and transnational levels. The analysis reveals a policy interdependence between international economic law and sustainable development. The latter hence represents a specific regulatory construct that aims at compensating the losses of exhaustible resources with investments in technology and knowledge. This, however, merely justifies and legitimizes the over-exploitation of certain parts of the globe, including not only their natural resources, but also human and other capitals. To overcome these unsustainable models, the article proposes a paradigm shift away from the standard of sustainable development in international economic law, towards one of sustainability. The idea is to replace sustainable development with sustainable economy. Law can act as a trigger of such a shift through ensuring trust and cooperation between public institutions, private companies, civil society, local communities, and individual citizens.

Sustainable development and international economic law in Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thabo Fiona Khumalo
Keyword(s):  
International Economic ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Developmental Needs ◽  
Economic Law ◽  
International Economic Law ◽  
Developed World

ABSTRACT Sustainable development has been advocated by the developed world as a means to ensure that the most widely beneficial type of development occurs. This has resulted in a body of rules, which though well intended, does not adequately address the developmental needs of developing countries. It has become a source of tension between developing and developed countries. Developing countries fear that it can be used to frustrate their prospects of development. Hence the adoption of sustainable development provisions by African countries has largely been controversial. This article explores the concept of sustainable development and its level of acceptance in international economic law instruments involving African countries. This article argues that African countries should adopt a more intentional position with regards to sustainable development to ensure that each agreement creates an opportunity for economic transformation and sustainability. Key words: Sustainable development, international economic law, African agreements.

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