Law Commons^™

Preparing Legal Frameworks For Environmental Disasters: Practical Considerations For Host States, Brooke Guven, Perrine Toledano, Lise Johnson

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Projects in the extractives sector carry risks of lasting, and sometimes irreversible, damage to the environment. Nonetheless, these projects are important for accelerating the economic development of host countries. Governments seeking to mitigate the adverse effects of foreign investment often face pushback from investors that are unwilling to change their practices in order to avert environmental disaster. This report sets forth certain steps that host-governments can take during the pre-investment, operation, and enforcement phases of extractives projects to provide financial and other protection in the context of environmental disasters associated with private sector investments.

Upon comparative review of five Case …

Outcome Report Of Roundtable On Human Rights Impact Assessments (Hrias) Of Large-Scale Foreign Investments, Columbia Center On Sustainable Investment

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

CCSI, the Sciences Po Law School Clinic, and the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute recently published an outcome document of a one-day roundtable focused on the opportunities and challenges presented by human rights impact assessments (HRIAs) of large-scale foreign investments. The roundtable, which was held in April 2014 at Columbia University, provided an opportunity for collaborative reflection on the development of HRIAs, as well as on ways to enhance HRIAs as a framework and tool for both human rights advocacy and human rights risk management in respect of foreign investments.

By sharing the outcomes of the roundtable, this document …

Foreign Investment Contracts In The Oil & Gas Sector: A Survey Of Environmentally Relevant Clauses, Kyla Tienhaara

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Investment Agreements & Sustainable Development: The Non-Discrimination Standards, Marcos Orellana

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

International Investment, Expropriation And Environmental Protection, J. Martin Wagner

Golden Gate University Law Review

After a brief description of the relationship between foreign investment and the environment in Part II, the Article will describe the protection against expropriation provided by international agreements, briefly discussing bilateral investment agreements and then detailing the protection provided by NAFTA and the MAI in Part III. Part IV will then describe the challenges to environmental laws that have been brought under NAFTA's investment chapter. Next, Part V will examine the treatment of indirect expropriation under U.S. and international law. Part VI will demonstrate that, under NAFTA and international expropriation and environmental law, environmental measures should not normally give rise …

Stepping Stone Or Stumbling Block: Incrementalism And National Climate Change Legislation, Rachel Brewster

Faculty Scholarship

This Article examines the effects of incremental domestic legislation on international negotiations to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Mitigating the effects of climate change is a global public good, which, ultimately, only an international agreement can provide. The common presumption (justified or not) is that national legislation is a step forward to an international agreement. This Article analyzes how national legislation can create a demand for international action but can also preempt or frustrate international efforts. The crucial issue, which has been largely ignored thus far, is how incremental steps at the domestic level alter international negotiations. This paper identifies four …

Revenue Ruling 87-124: Treasury's Flawed Interpretation Of Debt-For-Nature Swaps, Ronny Jay Halperin

University of Miami Law Review

No abstract provided.