Rethinking Investment Treaties: Lessons for policy-making

If we were building the investment treaty regime from scratch today, what policy problems should the regime seek to solve, and how should it contribute to solving them? 

This is the question at the heart of IISD's upcoming webinar on international investment treaties. Instead of scrutinizing existing flaws in existing treaties, the webinar will guide policy-makers on how to reevaluate investment treaties to tackle the burning environmental, social, and climate change issues of the 21st century.

The webinar will be based on a fresh report from IISD, Rethinking Investment Treaties, which sets out a detailed roadmap for how the international investment treaty system can be redesigned to accelerate—rather than obstruct—genuine sustainable development.

The report authors, Josef Ostřanský and Jonathan Bonnitcha, and leading experts from academia and international institutions will discuss the report's key findings and further unpack how investment treaties could be redesigned to improve international cooperation on investment governance, align financial flows with the Paris Agreement, ensure that host states benefit from investment projects, and ensure strong human rights and environmental standards in investment projects.

Interpretation will be available in French and Spanish.

Make sure to read the first paper in our Rethinking series, Rethinking National Investment Laws.

Speakers

Alessandra Mistura, policy analyst, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

J. Benton Heath, associate professor of Law, Temple University

Dafina Atanasova, economic affairs officer, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

Joshua Paine, senior lecturer, University of Bristol

Josef Ostřanský, policy advisor, IISD

Jonathan Bonnitcha, senior associate, IISD

The discussion will be moderated by Suzy H. Nikièma, Director of Investment, IISD.