G20 International Investment Agreements and Guiding Principles for Global Investment Policymaking

This paper maps the international investment agreements (IIAs) concluded by Group of Twenty (G20) countries, examining whether there is a common thread between those countries with respect to investment protection and especially the G20 Guiding Principles for Global Investment Policymaking.

For that purpose, the author examines the most important provisions on investment protection in all available IIAs across all G20 countries. These include the scope and definition of investment and investors; the existence of establishment or pre-establishment commitments; standards of treatment and their limitations; and the main standards of protection, like expropriation, transfers, and umbrella clauses.

Finally, the author examines the presence of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions and their limitations and maps the presence of the Guiding Principles for Global Investment Policymaking in existing IIAs concluded by G20 countries.