MULTILATERALISM AND THE INTEGRATION OF THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS INTO INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT LAW
Date
2023-02-03
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
0000-0002-6768-0907
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
This thesis explores whether multilateralism can be feasibly utilized in efforts to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into International Investment Law (IIL). IIL—which comprises International Investment Agreements and Investor-State Dispute Settlement—is potentially beneficial to sustainable development, and as far as sustainable development is concerned, the SDGs represent its tangible manifestations. However, this benefit potential is only realizable if certain elements are in place within the IIL framework. In its current state, IIL does not substantially promote the attainment of the SDGs and risks inhibiting their achievement. Therefore, IIL needs reforms to align with the SDGs.
According to its proponents, particularly the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, a multilateral investment treaty is the most efficient way to achieve these reforms. The rationale is that if such were to be successful, it is the most straightforward, all-encompassing, and once-for-all means of addressing the inconsistencies, overlaps, and development challenges that are distinctive features of the regime. To be truly reformative, such multilateral investment treaty must be successful—that is, accepted by most states worldwide—and effective (able to bring about the change sought). This thesis, therefore, first considers the prospects of the success of a multilateral reform effort and thereafter examines the components of a potentially effective SDG-integrating multilateral investment instrument.
The research undertaken by this thesis reveals that certain factors and their embodying elements that need to be present in the investment regime to ensure both success and effectiveness are not currently prevalent in the investment regime, and it is unlikely that they will be in the near future. At the core of these factors is the need for consensus on the utilization of IIL for sustainable development rather than purely economic objectives. In addition, multilateralism has not historically enjoyed much success in IIL as in other areas of international law, and some of the reasons for this, as discussed in the thesis, are rooted in the aforementioned absence of consensus on considerations of matters related to sustainable development in the framing of the constituent elements of IIL. Therefore, this thesis concludes that the use of multilateralism to integrate the SDGs into IIL is currently infeasible, and as such, alternative means of integrating the SDGs into the regime must be considered.
Description
Keywords
International Investment Law, Sustainable Development Goals, foreign investment, international investment regime
Citation
Degree
Master of Laws (LL.M.)
Department
Law
Program
Law