Our People
Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder
Executive Director, IISD Europe; Senior Director, Economic Law & Policy
Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder, LL.M, is a senior international lawyer and heads the Economic Law & Policy programme of the International Institute on Sustainable Development (IISD). She is the Executive Director of IISD Europe.
In this role, she works with developing country governments across Africa, Asia and Latin America in relation to bilateral and regional investment treaty negotiations, investor-state contracts (with a particular focus on mining and agriculture), model investment treaties and foreign investment laws.
Nathalie has extensive legal, policy, and training experience in the area of international trade, investment, sustainable development, human rights, international environmental law and arbitration.
She previously worked as an attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law in Washington and Geneva, where she also managed the office. Earlier, she was a fellow at the International Institute of International Economic Law at Georgetown University Law Center and worked in Hanoi, Vietnam, for a legal reform project of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and for the Australian law firm Phillips Fox. In Switzerland Nathalie is admitted to the Bar of Basel and has worked for the Justice Department, Berne, in the Section for International Law.
She is based in Geneva and is fluent in English, German, and French.
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World Leaders Must Play Their Part in Rethinking Trade so It Can Help Us “Build Back Better”While the question of who will lead the WTO is important, political leaders must also renew their commitment to working together if trade is to contribute to a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient world. -
Investment Treaty News (ITN), Volume 11, Issue 2, June 2020Investment Treaty News (ITN) is IISD’s flagship journal on international investment law and policy. -
As COVID-19 Continues, Governments Must Shield Emergency Measures From Investor-State ArbitrationGovernments need to be able to issue COVID-19 support packages without worrying about the possibility of facing a wave of arbitration. -
Protecting Against Investor–State Claims Amidst COVID-19: A call to action for governmentsThis commentary takes stock of emergency measures taken to curb the spread of COVID-19 and provides governments with options for avoiding a surge of investor-state claims challenging those measures. -
IISD Best Practices Series: Terminating a Bilateral Investment Treaty This paper examines recent state practice in bilateral investment treaty (BIT) terminations and related drafting, along with presenting options for states interested in addressing their stock of older BITs through termination and renegotiation. -
Investment Treaty News (ITN), Volume 10, Issue 5, December 2019Investment Treaty News (ITN) is IISD’s flagship journal on international investment law and policy. -
Global Economic Governance Through the Lens of Inequality and Sustainable Development: Meeting Report This meeting report was developed following a one-day workshop held in Geneva, Switzerland, on September 13, 2019, on the subjects of global economic governance, income inequality and sustainable development. -
Redesigning the Energy Charter Treaty to Advance the Low-Carbon TransitionThis paper discusses practical ways to overhaul the Energy Charter Treaty to bring it in line with international law commitments with respect to climate change and sustainable development. -
Summary Comments to the Proposals for Amendment of the ICSID Arbitration RulesThis commentary focuses on select aspects of the ICSID Secretariat's March 15, 2019 draft proposals for amendment of the ICSID Arbitration Rules. -
Investor–State Dispute Settlement Reform Talks Resume at UNCITRALThe next meeting of a United Nations working group debating options for reforming investor–state dispute settlement takes place in New York April 1 to 5. -
SADC-IISD Investment Facilitation WorkshopReport of the meeting held August 21–23, 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa. -
Survey on Developing Country Investment Treaty NegotiationsAt the suggestion of participants at the 11th Annual Forum of Developing Country Investment... -
Reply to Public Consultation on Canada's International Investment Agreements (FIPAs) The Canadian government launched a public consultation on Canada’s foreign investment promotion and protection agreements (FIPAs) on August 14, 2018. This commentary outlines IISD's reply. -
Investment Treaty News (ITN), Volume 9, Issue 3, October 2018Investment Treaty News (ITN) is IISD’s flagship journal on international investment law and policy. -
International Investment Law and Sustainable Development: Key cases from the 2010s This e-book features 10 summaries and analyses of decisions rendered between 2011 and 2018 by arbitral tribunals in treaty-based investor–state arbitration cases having sustainable development implications. -
IISD Best Practices Series: Security for CostsThis IISD Best Practices paper explores challenges for states in obtaining orders for security of costs and provides model treaty language designed to help overcome those challenges. -
USMCA Curbs How Much Investors Can Sue Countries—Sort ofThe North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) put the famous investor–state dispute settlement mechanism on the map. Now its rebirth as the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) is taking it off again—at least between the United States and Canada. -
International Energy Charter Draft Model Investment Dispute Prevention and Management ProtocolIISD legal analysis of the draft Model Investment Dispute Prevention and Management Protocol developed by International Energy Charter Secretariat. -
A Progressive Investment Agenda for Canada: Going beyond nice wordsThe Government of Canada has made the notion of a “progressive and inclusive” trade and investment agenda the linchpin of its trade policy development—but the government will have to go beyond nice words to ensure that investment policy can achieve sustainable development. -
Developing a Progressive Agenda for Reform of International Investment Law: Canadian perspectives This report presents the ideas posited by various Canadian stakeholders in an IISD expert meeting on a progressive agenda on investment, held in Ottawa, Canada, June 13, 2018. -
How the Energy Charter Treaty Could Have Costly Consequences for Governments and Climate ActionNathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder explores the current status of the Energy Charter Treaty, and why now, more than ever, it deserves far more public attention and scrutiny. -
Integrating Investor Obligations and Corporate Accountability Provisions in Trade and Investment AgreementsThis report synthesizes the main points that emerged from the discussions in the expert meeting co-organized by IISD and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) in Versoix, Switzerland, January 11–12, 2018. -
When Climate Leaders Protect Dirty InvestmentsIn 2016, global spending on oil and gas projects was more than double the total spent on renewables. That imbalance can be addressed only by restructuring the mechanisms, particularly existing trade treaties, that govern how energy investments are made and managed. -
Is “Moonlighting” a Problem? The role of ICJ judges in ISDSSitting judges of the International Court of Justice have worked as arbitrators in at least 90 investor–state dispute settlement cases. This commentary presents new data and examines the implications. -
Zambian Villagers Win the Right to Sue a Mining Company in the United Kingdom In an interesting development, the United Kingdom Court of Appeal recently upheld the decision of a lower court that British courts have jurisdiction to hear a case in which a United Kingdom-based mining company’s activities caused harm abroad (in Zambia). We explore. -
Farmland Investments Are Finding their Way to International ArbitrationA claim registered by a Swedish investor against the Tanzanian government for revoking a land title amid concerns over the impact on local communities and a wildlife sanctuary is the first known investor-state dispute against a government linked to the so-called “land grab” phenomenon, which arose out of the 2008 food crisis. -
Response to the United States Trade Representative’s Stated Objectives on NAFTA Negotiations: An environmental perspectiveOn July 17, 2017, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published its Summary of Objectives for the NAFTA renegotiation. Taking a sustainable development perspective, this response examines the USTR objectives and how they directly or indirectly relate to sustainable growth through international trade and investment. -
Investment-Related Dispute Settlement: Lessons from international accountability mechanismsWorking toward elements of a new mechanism for investment-related disputes, the expert meeting held in Washington, D.C., United States, on April 11, 2017 focused on ways forward on a compliance structure to hold companies accountable. -
Investment Treaty News Quarterly (ITN), Volume 8, Issue 2, June 2017Investment Treaty News is IISD’s flagship quarterly journal on international investment law and policy. -
Investment-Related Dispute Settlement: Towards an inclusive multilateral approachThis document outlines results from an IISD expert meeting discussing investment-related dispute settlement which was held in Montreux, Switzerland, May 23–24, 2016. -
A Sliver of Light in a Controversial Nuclear Power ArbitrationA phase-out of nuclear power has triggered a controversial legal dispute with Vattenfall, a Swedish state-owned energy company, which operated and owned two nuclear reactors. The legal proceedings have so far been highly secrete, but that is changing with a decision to open up the hearings to the public. -
TransCanada Corporation’s Arbitration Against the U.S. is Worrying for Democracy Each year companies lodge dozens of legal cases against governments under a little-known mechanism called investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). Few make headlines. -
How the Investment Chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Falls ShortAfter years of negotiations behind closed doors, the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP),... -
Brazil's Innovative Approach to International Investment LawOne of the more contentious aspects of international economic law are so-called bilateral... -
Comparative Commentary to Brazil’s Cooperation and Investment Facilitation Agreements (CIFAs) with Mozambique, Angola, Mexico, and MalawiUnlike traditional bilateral investment treaties (BITs), which are geared toward investor protection, Brazil’s Cooperation and Investment Facilitation Agreements (CIFAs—or ACFIs in their Portuguese acronym) focus primarily on cooperation and investment facilitation. -
Investment Contracts for Agriculture: Maximizing gains and minimizing risksThis joint IISD, World Bank and UNCTAD discussion paper marries two substantial bodies of research to show how investment contracts can be set up to promote sustainable development. It presents the top five positive outcomes and the five downsides from private sector investments in large-scale agricultural projects. -
Investment Treaty News Quarterly, Volume 6, Issue 2, May 2015In this issue:The Merits and Limitations of General Exception Clauses in Contemporary Investment... -
Public Consultation on Updating the Policy Framework for Investment: Submission by the International Institute for Sustainable DevelopmentThe Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is updating its Policy... -
The State of Play in Vattenfall v. Germany II: Leaving the German public in the darkTwo years after Vattenfall brought Germany to international arbitration for a second time (Vattenfall II), the German public is still left out in the dark. This briefing note reviews the background to the case on Germany’s decision to phase out nuclear power and outlines its current state of play. -
IISD Best Practices Series: State-State Dispute Settlement Clause in Investment TreatiesThis paper looks at state–state dispute settlement provisions in international investment agreements, examining the different mechanisms used to settle investment disputes, including judicial, quasi-judicial and arbitration procedures. -
The IISD Guide to Negotiating Investment Contracts for Farmland and WaterThe IISD Guide to Negotiating Investment Contracts for Farmland and Water is a legal and policy tool for governments and communities that are involved in negotiating investment contracts with foreign investors. -
Reply to the European Commission’s Public Consultation on Investment Protection and Investor-to-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement (TTIP)On March 27, 2014 the European Commission launched public consultations on the investment chapter... -
Investment Treaty News Quarterly, Volume 5, Issue 2, May 2014In this issue:The Practice of Responsible Investment Principles in Larger-Scale Agricultural... -
Investment Treaty Arbitration: Opportunities to reform arbitral rules and processesInvestors are increasingly turning to investor-state arbitration to challenge a wide range of... -
A Response to the European Commission's December 2013 Document "Investment Provisions in the EU-Canada Free Trade Agreement (CETA)"On December 3, 2013, the European Commission issued a document concerning the investment... -
Commentary to the Draft Investment Chapter of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)Shortly before the Lisbon Treaty's entry into force, Canada and the EU started negotiating a... -
Investment Treaty News Quarterly, Volume 4, Issue 4, September 2013In this issue:New UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules on Transparency: Application, Content and Next Steps... -
Investment Treaty News Quarterly, Volume 3, Issue 4, June 2013In this issue:Smart Flexibility Clauses in International Investment Agreements; The Quest for... -
IISD Best Practices Series: Registration and Approval Requirements in Investment TreatiesThis paper analyzes registration and approval requirements for investments in investment treaties, and examines the interpretation of such provisions by arbitral tribunals. -
Chinese Outward Investment: An emerging policy frameworkThis book is an English-language compilation covering over 80 primary texts relevant to Chinese... -
Submission to Working Group II on International Arbitration - Vienna October 1-5, 2012 - Comments on Draft Articles 1, 3, 7 and 8 In 2010, Working Group II on International Arbitration launched work on its mandate from the... -
Investment Treaty News Quarterly, Volume 2, Issue 4, July 2012In this issue:Deference or No Deference, That is the Question: Legitimacy and Standards of Review... -
Addressing Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Through Insurance for Overseas Investments: The example of the U.S. Overseas Private Investment CorporationThe paper aims to illustrate the connections between government policy, investment and climate... -
The German Nuclear Phase-Out Put to the Test in International Investment Arbitration? Background to the new dispute Vattenfall v. Germany (II)The Swedish energy company Vattenfall has now followed through on its threat to bring an international arbitration claim against Germany in relation to that country's recent decision to phase out nuclear power. Damages claimed by Vattenfall could exceed €700 million. -
Investment Treaty News Quarterly, Volume 2, Issue 3, April 2012In this issue:Defining an ICSID Investment: Why economic development should be the core element;... -
Recent Developments in International Investment Disputes: Investment treaty cases from September 2010 to October 2011This brief was prepared for the Fifth Annual Forum of Developing Country Investment Negotiators,... -
Commentary to the Austrian Model Investment TreatyThe commentary examines the Austrian Model Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) and compares recent... -
A Critical Opportunity for Transparency in Investor-State Disputes as Government Delegations and Arbitration Experts Meet in New YorkCountry delegations to the United Nations have a critical opportunity to bring much-needed... -
Investment Treaties and Why They Matter to Sustainable Development: Questions and answersThis handbook focuses on international treaties that guarantee standards of treatment for foreign... -
Transparency in the Dispute Settlement Process: Country best practicesIn many investor-state arbitrations, it is difficult or impossible even to know that the dispute has been initiated, what the issues and arguments are, and what decisions or awards have been made to resolve the matter. -
Comments on Draft Rules on Transparency in Investor-State ArbitrationIISD and CIEL have produced a note summarizing their response to the proposed draft articles and... -
International Investment Law and Sustainable Development: Key cases from 2000-2010This book summarizes and analyzes select decisions issued between 2000 and 2010 by arbitral... -
Arbitrator Independence and Impartiality: Examining the dual role of arbitrator and counselThis paper examines the investor-State arbitrations in view of the available common institutional... -
Investment Treaty News Quarterly, Volume 1, Issue 3, April 2011In this issue:Freezing government policy: Stabilization clauses in investment contracts; The... -
Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication - Enabling Conditions Supporting the Transition to a Global Green EconomyUnited Nations Environment Programme's Green Economy Initiative, in collaboration with economists... -
Ensuring Transparency in Investor-State Dispute Resolution under the UNCITRAL Arbitration RulesThe paper examines the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working... -
Belgium's Model Bilateral Investment Treaty: A ReviewThe paper gives a background on the International Investment Agreements (IIAs) , notably on... -
European Parliament hearing on Foreign Direct InvestmentNathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder looks at some of the trends in the area of investment protection... -
Background paper on Vattenfall v. Germany arbitrationThis paper provides background on an investment dispute between the Swedish energy utility Vattenfall and the Government of Germany pursuant to the Energy Charter Treaty. -
Trade and Environment: A Resource BookTrade and environment policy is increasingly intertwined and the stakes are nearly always high in...
