Law Commons^™

The Role Of Investment Treaties And Investor–State Dispute Settlement (Isds) In Renewable Energy Investments, Ladan Mehranvar, Sunayana Sasmal

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Achieving our global goals of universal access to clean energy and averting a climate crisis will require a mass scale-up of investments in renewable energy infrastructure, redirecting capital from carbon intensive energy and transport systems. The International Renewable Energy Agency estimates that the transformation of the energy system alone will need cumulative investments to reach USD 110 trillion by 2050 to keep the rise in global temperatures to well below 2°C and towards 1.5°C during this century. Of that amount, over 80% will need to be invested in renewables, energy efficiency, end-use electrification, and power grids and flexibility.

The private …

Scaling Investment In Renewable Energy Generation To Achieve Sustainable Development Goals 7 (Affordable And Clean Energy) And 13 (Climate Action) And The Paris Agreement: Roadblocks And Drivers, Mithatcan Aydos, Perrine Toledano, Martin Dietrich Brauch, Ladan Mehranvar, Theodoros Iliopoulos, Sunayana Sasmal

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

The zero-carbon energy transition is the solution to the 2022 energy crisis and a fundamental part of the solution to the global climate crisis. Yet, there are relatively low levels of investment in renewable energy in developing countries, hindering their achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and contribution to the Paris Agreement goals.

In 2021, the Asia–Pacific region (excluding China) accounted for less than 8% of investments in energy transition technologies, Latin America and the Caribbean for less than 4%, and Africa and the Middle East for less than 2%. Annual investment in zero-carbon energy in developing economies other …

Scaling Investment In Renewable Energy: Roadblocks And Drivers – Executive Summary, Mithatcan Aydos, Perrine Toledano, Martin Dietrich Brauch, Ladan Mehranvar, Theodoros Iliopoulos, Sunayana Sasmal

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

The zero-carbon energy transition is the solution to the 2022 energy crisis and a fundamental part of the solution to the global climate crisis. Yet, there are relatively low levels of investment in renewable energy in developing countries, hindering their achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and contribution to the Paris Agreement goals.

In 2021, the Asia–Pacific region (excluding China) accounted for less than 8% of investments in energy transition technologies, Latin America and the Caribbean for less than 4%, and Africa and the Middle East for less than 2%. Annual investment in zero-carbon energy in developing economies other …

Investment Incentives: A Survey Of Policies And Approaches For Sustainable Investment, Lise Johnson, Perrine Toledano

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

In order to effectively harness public funds and leverage them to support sustainable development, governments have to be strategic in their use of capital. This means ensuring that government funds are used to help compensate for market failures that lead to the underproduction of public goods. It also means ensuring that government funds are not used to provide redundant support for private actors and subsidize environmentally or socially harmful activities.

To achieve these policy objectives, governments need to be careful and deliberate in their use of investment incentives. Investment incentives, which may be defined (broadly) as nonmarket advantages used to …

International Investment Law And The Extractive Industries, Ella Merrill, Jesse Coleman, Lisa E. Sachs, Lise Johnson

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

As of April 2022, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) tallied 3,218 international investment treaties, of which 2,558 are in force. Investors in extractive industries (the oil, gas, and mining sectors) have used investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms embedded in these treaties to challenge a wide range of host state actions and inactions that have allegedly negatively affected their investments. Those claims, and the threats thereof, restrict states’ ability to maximize the benefits, and their ability to limit environmental and social harms, resulting from the exploitation of natural resources. This briefing note provides an introduction to international …

Supporting Good Governance Of Extractive Industries In Politically Hostile Settings: Rethinking Approaches And Strategies, Leila Kazemi, Ricardo Soares De Oliveira

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

This discussion paper is the product of a workshop entitled “Supporting Good Governance of Extractive Industries in Politically Hostile Settings: A View from Sub-Saharan Africa,” organized by the Oxford Martin School (OMS) Programme on African Governance and the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) and supporting research. The workshop brought together global and local researchers and practitioners with a wide range of experience with extractives governance, particularly, though not exclusively, in the sub-Saharan African region. The meeting built on prior research and discussions held as part of CCSI’s project on the Politics of Extractive Industries, dedicated to supporting the field …

International Investment Governance And Achieving A Just Zero-Carbon Future, Ella Merrill, Martin Dietrich Brauch, Lisa E. Sachs

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

As developing countries continue to be the most negatively affected by climate change and the energy transition, it is increasingly critical that they receive foreign direct investment and financial support to build climate resilience, adapt to climate impacts, avoid carbon lock-in and fossil fuel dependence, and leverage their rich endowments of renewable and extractive resources to prepare for the zero-carbon future.

There is a disconnect and fundamental misalignment between international investment law and the international climate change regime, comprising the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement. Existing investment treaties—including their centerpiece, investor–state dispute settlement …