Sustainable Development in Swiss International Investment Agreements

This article outlines the sustainable development provisions (SDPs) found in international investment agreements (IIAs) in general, as well as explicitly concerning environment and labour provisions. In turn, we examine in detail Swiss IIAs and their sustainable development provisions, both as a single country, as well as part of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and compare them with the inclusion of these provisions in IIAs at a worldwide level. Considering that Switzerland is one of the leading countries in the negotiation and conclusion of IIAs, and simultaneously, it has made a strong public commitment to promote sustainable development, in the conclusion, we propose some recommendations for future negotations or renegotations of Swiss IIAs in order to include more sustainable developments provisions.