Law Commons^™

Circular Economy In The Industrial Goods Sector: A Framework For Understanding Private Sector Progress And Innovation, Chris Albin-Lackey, Madeleine Songy

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

A “circular economy” is an economic system that creates a closed loop, allowing for the reuse of resources and minimization of waste. How are circularity principles implemented in the business practices of private companies? “Circular Economy in the Industrial Goods Sector: A Framework for Understanding Private Sector Progress And Innovation” analyzes a diverse cross-section of industrial goods companies and develops a five pillar framework to characterize what good circularity practices look like in practice.

This report was commissioned by Stewart Investors, a long-term investor that looks to drive sustainable development progress through its portfolio. Stewart Investors' approach to stewardship includes …

Government Procurement, Financial Services, And Environment: Linkages And Implications For The Eu And Brazil, Adeet Dobhal, Lucas Moreira Jiminez

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

The relationship between trade and the environment is increasingly a priority for policymakers and civil society. However, some of the disciplines covered by modern trade agreements have not received enough attention when it comes to their potential impact on the environment. Financial services and government procurement are two such areas, even though they are increasingly consequential topics for international trade policy and negotiations. This blind spot merits greater consideration as the connections definitely exist: the regulation of government procurement and financial services can have positive or negative implications for environmental outcomes on the ground, which makes understanding these links a …

Reforming International Investment Law To Advance Tax Justice, Madeleine Songy

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Reforming International Investment Law to Advance Tax Justice" highlights the detrimental impact of current international investment treaties on tax justice and sustainable development objectives. It argues that Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms often impede states' ability to implement effective tax policies by allowing foreign investors to challenge tax measures. The brief recommends a comprehensive reform of international investment law to ensure that investment treaties support rather than undermine tax justice. This can include eliminating ISDS provisions, drafting new treaties that safeguard the sovereign right of states to regulate taxation, and facilitating cooperation among states to reform tax systems at national, …

Incorporating Climate Considerations Into Investment Assessment Processes: Guidance For National And Local Governments, Esther Akwii, Grace Brennan, Leslie Hannay, Martin Dietrich Brauch, Nora Mardirossian

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Global climate change impacts pose complex, dynamic challenges to the success of land-based investments — such as agriculture, forestry, and wind and solar energy — which can further exacerbate detrimental climate change impacts if they are not sustainably implemented. Countries outline in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) their goals and plans to reduce GHG emissions and adapt to climate change impacts. To ensure their success, governments must fully integrate their NDCs into national climate strategies, plans, and policies that drive government action and decisions. Improved land-based investment decision-making through the incorporation of climate considerations in investment assessment processes (IAPs) can …

Harms From Concentrated Industries: A Primer, Denise Hearn

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Market concentration within sectors and across global value chains has increased in recent years, leading to new scholarship on the benefits and harms of concentrated industries. The macroeconomic effects of market concentration, and its effects on stakeholders like workers, consumers, and citizens, will significantly impact the achievement of the SDGs. Read CCSI's primer on the Harms from Concentrated Industries here.

Billion-Dollar Exposure: Investor-State Dispute Settlement In Mozambique’S Fossil Fuel Sector, Lea Di Salvatore, Maria Julia Gubeissi

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Alongside preparing for climate change, Africa should invest in the zero-carbon future, avoiding locking itself into the declining fossil fuel–based economy while taking advantage of the opportunities presented by decarbonization. However, investment treaties and investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) hinder, rather than catalyze, the transition to climate-friendly investment opportunities. This report shows how Mozambique’s international investment agreements and publicly available oil, gas, and coal contracts allow foreign investors to bypass the national judicial system and bring multi-billion-dollar ISDS claims against Mozambique. Such claims can result in significant costs for the country, and they also have a chilling effect on new public-interest …

An International Law Framework For Climate-Aligned Investment Governance, Martin Dietrich Brauch, Elena Klonsky, Fanny Marie Everard, Qiaozi Guanglin, Tyler Alviano, Justin Cuddihey, Mary Wang

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

The January 2024 CCSI Working Paper, An International Law Framework for Climate-Aligned Investment Governance, outlines a framework — and invites and hopes to inspire further thinking, research, and discussion — on how to bridge gaps and build cohesion among various areas of international law relevant to investment in climate mitigation and adaptation. The working paper identifies areas of international law that are or could be relevant to investment governance, highlights points of inconsistency, and proposes a framework to reform and integrate international law with the objective of promoting and facilitating climate investment flows and achieving climate-aligned regulation of investment.

Uncitral Working Group Iii: Contribution On The ‘Right To Regulate’ Provision, Columbia Center On Sustainable Investment, International Institute For Environment And Development, South Centre

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

"UNCITRAL Working Group III: Contribution on the ‘Right to Regulate’ Provision" is a joint submission to the Secretariat's request for comments on the procedural and cross-cutting issues. The commentary focuses on the states' right-to-regulate provision, proposed in the Draft provisions on procedural and cross-cutting issues, and proposes additional policy options aimed at preserving the states' sovereign right (and duty) to regulate.

How The International Investment Law Regime Undermines Access To Justice For Investment-Affected Stakeholders, Ladan Mehranvar

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

For over a decade now, the international investment law regime, which includes investment treaties and their central pillar, the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism, has been facing sustained calls for reform. These have largely centered on the concerns regarding the high costs of ISDS, the restrictions placed by the investment treaty regime on the right—or duty—of states to regulate in the public interest, and the questionable benefits arising from these treaties in the first place. Several states have taken proactive measures: some have revised investment treaty standards to better protect their regulatory powers; others have introduced new approaches to investment …