Focus on: International Investment Law and Sustainable Development – 2023 Summer Academy

In course 9 of our Summer Academy, Marie-Claire Cordonier and Markus Gehring explore the realm of International investment flows, international investment law and their complex relationship with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The course is aimed at Government officials, Embassy staff, people working for international organizations and NGOs, industry and in legal practice. Master-level students from different universities across Switzerland and beyond, may also find it extremely helpful for their career.

Course description:

International investment flows, and principles and accords which governs them, can either foster or frustrate global sustainability.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) lay out a common policy agenda, 169 time-bound targets under 17 Goals to guide a transition to a more sustainable world. Advancing these SDGs, which address key global priorities such as poverty, hunger, universal access to health and education, clean water and energy, climate change, biodiversity protection, justice and more, requires significant investment, which can be incentive by international investment law.

This course examines international investment treaty law, highlighting procedural innovations and objectives, exceptions, substantive obligations and collaborative measures which can help rather than hinder sustainability in different regions and countries.

The course also surveys recent dispute settlement decisions and arbitral awards related to sustainable development, and examines how international investment promotion and governance mechanisms could promote nature positive and net zero development, more sustainable management of natural resources, and realisation of indigenous and human rights.

Lecturers: Marie-Clare Cordonier and Markus Gehring
Dates: 17-21 July 2023
ECTS: 3

Download the full syllabus here