Events like the Bhopal disaster, the sale of products harmful to human health and safety, and child labour, especially in resource-scarce settings, raise fundamental issues of human dignity and ecological integrity. From a legal perspective, and in the context of Foreign Direct Investment by Transnational Corporations in developing countries, they highlight the lacuna of a holistic international legal framework and its implementation. This book embodies a critique of the complex web of public international law principles on economics, human rights and the environment, and their convergence or lack thereof, related regional (South Asian) and domestic (Sri Lankan) legal arrangements, interventions of states and non-state actors towards just, equitable and sustainable development. It is a quest for a middle path in the multidisciplinary landscape of international law, development and North-South power dynamics; globalization of free trade and investment and of social and environmental interests; and salient aspects of the philosophical, socio-economic and legal fabric of South Asia, viewed against the evolving, controversial and elastic sphere of international relations and law where consensus has hitherto been an elusive dream.

This book is a thought-provoking and authoritative text on this fast moving field of international law.

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.

This volume provides cutting-edge interdisciplinary analysis of the synergies between foreign investment and environmental protection by leading scholars and practitioners.

International Investment for Sustainable Development critically examines the interface between sustainability, development, and the governance of international investment. It challenges the conventional view that foreign direct investment is a 'miracle drug' for developing countries and exposes serious shortcomings in the current international investment regime. Composed of norms, agreements, treaties and regulations, the emerging investment regime expands the rights of transnational corporations (TNCs) without commensurate rewards for the common good. Drawing on both research and engaged advocacy, the contributors ultimately map out a new way forward, towards the creation and implementation of international investment rules that will promote global sustainability and equity.

Are conflicts between the ‘old capitalists’ and ‘new money’ manifest in today’s economy? Are investment treaties, which have traditionally been used to protect capital exporting states, now beginning to cause unwelcome side effects for them? International investment law has long been held as an economic and political instrument in the regime of international investment, with international investment treaties having been concluded to protect foreign investment and investors for a substantial period of time. However, the emerging new economic powers from the Third World are causing this to change. Taking the unique perspective of environmental protection in host states against states’ obligations to protect and promote foreign investments under the existing international investment treaty practice and dispute settlement practices, this book examines this inescapable conflict. This is the first major work in this field to interpret investment treaty provisions by introducing environmental reflection. It offers proposals for rethinking and reshaping the current pro-investor international investment law through taking up broad environmental exceptions.