The Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI), a joint center of Columbia Law School and Columbia Climate School at Columbia University, is the only university-based applied research center and forum dedicated to the study, practice and discussion of sustainable international investment. It develops practical approaches for governments, investors, communities, and other stakeholders to maximize the benefits of international investment for sustainable development. Applying its legal, economic, and policy expertise, CCSI addresses sustainable investment holistically, bridging investment law, natural resource management, human rights, economics, political economy, and environmental management. It works to strengthen the sustainable development potential of international investment, and to ensure that international investment is mutually beneficial for investors and the citizens of recipient countries.
Publications from 2016
Memo/Briefing Note: International Investment Law and the Extractive Industries Sector, Lise Johnson and Jesse Coleman
Memo/Briefing Note: Land Deals and the Law: Grievances, Human Rights, and Investor Protections, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Lise Johnson, and Sam Szoke-Burke
Memo/Briefing Note: Recommending Transparency in Land-Based Investment: A Summary of Relevant Guidelines and Principles, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Memo/Briefing Note: Submission to OPIC on Revisions to its Environmental and Social Policy Statement, Kaitlin Y. Cordes
Memo/Briefing Note: Submission to the SEC on Addressing Land Tenure Risks Through Regulation S-K, Kaitlin Y. Cordes
Memo/Briefing Note: Transparency in Land-Based Investment: Key Questions and Next Steps, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Report/Policy Paper: A Policy Framework to Approach the Use of Associated Petroleum Gas, Shay Banerjee and Perrine Toledano
Report/Policy Paper: Conference Report: Climate Change and Sustainable Investment in Natural Resources: From Consensus to Action, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Report/Policy Paper: Employment from Mining and Agricultural Investments: How Much Myth, How Much Reality?, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Olle Östensson, and Perrine Toledano
Report/Policy Paper: Guide to Land Contracts: Agricultural Projects, International Senior Lawyers Project, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, and Sam Szoke-Burke
Report/Policy Paper: Land Deal Dilemmas: Grievances, Human Rights, and Investor Protections, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Lise Johnson, and Sam Szoke-Burke
Report/Policy Paper: Linkages to the Resource Sector: The Role of Companies, Governments, and International Development Cooperation, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Report/Policy Paper: Mapping Mining to the Sustainable Development Goals: An Atlas, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, Sustainable Development Solutions Network, United Nations Development Programme, and World Economic Forum
Report/Policy Paper: Mining a Mirage: Reassessing the Shared-Value Paradigm in Light of the Technological Advances in the Mining Sector, Aaron Cosbey, Howard Mann, Nicolas Maennling, Perrine Toledano, Jeff Geipel, and Martin Dietrich Brauch
Report/Policy Paper: Outcome Report of Workshop on International Investment and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Kaitlin Y. Cordes and Jesse Coleman
Report/Policy Paper: Space for Local Content Policies and Strategies, Lise Johnson
Publications from 2015
Article: Exploring the Link Between Food Security and Climate Change, Kaitlin Y. Cordes
Article: Eyes Wide Shut On ISDS, Lisa E. Sachs and Lise Johnson
Article: Global Value Chains and Resource Corridors: The Nexus is Regional Integration, Perrine Toledano
Article: Measuring Land Rights for a Sustainable Future, Kaitlin Y. Cordes and Jeffrey D. Sachs
Article: Next Generation Treaty – India’s New Model BIT Makes it Clear that its Goal is to Accomplish More than Investor Protection, Lisa E. Sachs, Lise Johnson, and Sudhanshu Roy
Article: Not So Fast, Jeffrey D. Sachs, Lisa E. Sachs, and Lise Johnson
Article: Resource Resilience: How to Break the Commodities Cycle, Lisa E. Sachs and Nicolas Maennling
Article: Shared-Use Mining Infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa, Sophie Thomashausen and Glen Ireland
Article: The Responsible Investor’s Guide to Climate Change, Jeffrey D. Sachs and Lisa E. Sachs
Article: TPP Would Let Foreign Investors Bypass the Canadian Public Interest, Lisa E. Sachs and Lise Johnson
Article: Uncloaking the Secrecy Behind Large-Scale Land Deals, Jesse Coleman
Article: Why Fast Track Is a Dangerous Gift to Corporate Lobbies, Jeffrey D. Sachs, Lisa E. Sachs, and Lise Johnson
Article: Wrong Direction on Climate, Trade and Development, Lisa E. Sachs and Lise Johnson
Book: The Yearbook on International Investment Law & Policy 2013-2014, Andrea K. Bjorklund
Memo/Briefing Note: Comments on the World Bank’s Revised Draft Environmental and Social Framework, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Memo/Briefing Note: Memo to Prime Minister Cameron on the Revision of the U.K. National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights, Kaitlin Y. Cordes and Sam Szoke-Burke
Memo/Briefing Note: Memo to the Obama Administration on the U.S. National Action Plan on Responsible Business Conduct, Kaitlin Y. Cordes and Lisa E. Sachs
Memo/Briefing Note: New Weaknesses: Despite a Major Win, Arbitration Decisions in 2014 Increase the US’s Future Exposure to Litigation and Liability, Lise Johnson
Report/Policy Paper: Investor-State Dispute Settlement, Public Interest and U.S. Domestic Law, Lise Johnson, Lisa E. Sachs, and Jeffrey D. Sachs
Report/Policy Paper: Natural Resource Contracts as a Tool for Managing the Mining Sector, David Kienzler, Perrine Toledano, Sophie Thomashausen, and Sam Szoke-Burke
Report/Policy Paper: Ripe for Refinement: The State’s Role in Interpretation of FET, MFN, and Shareholder Rights, Lise Johnson
Report/Policy Paper: The TPP’s Investment Chapter: Entrenching, Rather Than Reforming, a Flawed System, Lise Johnson and Lisa E. Sachs
Publications from 2014
Article: International Investment Agreements: Are Their Policy Aims Served By Their Broad Definitions of Covered “Investors” and “Investments”?, Lise Johnson
Article: Making Agricultural Investments Work for Land Users & Communities, Kaitlin Y. Cordes
Article: New UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules on Transparency: Application, Content and Next Steps, Lise Johnson and Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder
Article: State Liability for Regulatory Change: How International Investment Rules are Overriding Domestic Law, Lise Johnson and Oleksandr Volkov
Article: Toward Win-Win Sustainable Development, Linda Moon
Article: Trading Away Human Rights, Kaitlin Y. Cordes and Olivier De Schutter
Book: The Yearbook on International Investment Law & Policy 2012-2013, Andrea K. Bjorklund
Memo/Briefing Note: Review Mechanisms in Natural Resource Contracts, Jacky Mandelbaum, Salli Anne Swartz, and John Hauert
Memo/Briefing Note: Why Good Governance of Land and Tenure Security Need to be Part of the Sustainable Development Goal Framework, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment and Sustainable Development Solutions Network
Report/Policy Paper: A Framework to Approach Shared-Use of Mining Related Infrastructure, Perrine Toledano, Sophie Thomashausen, Nicolas Maennling, and Alpa Shah
Report/Policy Paper: Investment Treaties and Industrial Policy: Select Case Studies on State Liability for Efforts to Encourage, Shape and Regulate Economic Activities in Extractive Industries and Infrastructure, Lise Johnson
Report/Policy Paper: Leveraging Mining Demand for Internet and Telecommunications Infrastructure for Broad Economic Development: Models, Opportunities and Challenges, Perrine Toledano and Clara Roorda
Report/Policy Paper: Leveraging Mining Investments in Water Infrastructure for Broad Economic Development: Models, Opportunities and Challenges, Perrine Toledano and Clara Roorda
Report/Policy Paper: Managing the Public Trust: How to Make Natural Resource Funds Work for Citizens, Andrew Bauer, Perrine Toledano, and Malan Rietveld
Report/Policy Paper: Meeting Summary of Colloquium on Policy, Law, Contracts, and Sustainable Development, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Report/Policy Paper: Outcome Report of Roundtable on Governing Natural Resources, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Report/Policy Paper: Outcome Report of Roundtable on Human Rights Impact Assessments (HRIAs) of Large-Scale Foreign Investments, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Report/Policy Paper: State Control over Interpretation of Investment Treaties, Lise Johnson and Merim Razbaevea
Report/Policy Paper: The Impact of Investment Treaties on Governance of Private Investment in Infrastructure, Lise Johnson
Report/Policy Paper: The Mauritius Convention on Transparency: Comments on the Rreaty and Its Role in Increasing Transparency of Investor-State Arbitration, Lise Johnson
Publications from 2013
Article: Ask the Experts: Mining, Lisa E. Sachs
Article: Cameroon Pastoralists Fight for their Way of Life, Kaitlin Y. Cordes
Article: Great Debate: Mining in Latin America, Lisa E. Sachs
Article: Investor-State Contracts, Host-State “Commitments” and the Myth of Stability in International Law, Lise Johnson and Oleksandr Volkov
Article: Mobil v. Canada – Ratcheting Down the Scope of Treaty Reservations, Lise Johnson
Article: On Solid Ground: Toward Effective Resource-Based Development, Lisa E. Sachs
Article: Shared-Use Infrastructure: A Prickly Partnership Takes Root, Perrine Toledano
Article: Why the Extractive Industry Should Support Mandatory Transparency: A Shared Value Approach, Julien Topal and Perrine Toledano
Book: Mining Contracts: How to Read and Understand Them, International Senior Lawyers Project, OpenOil, Revenue Watch Institute-Natural Resource Governance Institue, and Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment
Book: The Yearbook on International Investment Law & Policy 2011-2012, Karl P. Sauvant
Memo/Briefing Note: Memo to the Obama Administration on the Burma Responsible Investment Reporting Requirements, Kaitlin Y. Cordes and Lisa E. Sachs
Report/Policy Paper: Community Development Funds and Agreements in Guinea Under the New Mining Code, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Report/Policy Paper: Leveraging Paraguay’s Hydropower for Sustainable Economic Development, Perrine Toledano and Nicolas Maennling
Report/Policy Paper: New UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules on Transparency: Application, Content and Next Steps, Lise Johnson
Publications from 2012
Article: Addressing Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Through Insurance for Overseas Investments: The Example of the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Lise Johnson
Article: Devil in the Bidding Detail, Lisa E. Sachs, Jacky Mandelbaum, and Perrine Toledano
Article: Inching Towards Consensus: An Update on the UNCITRAL Transparency Negotiations, Lise Johnson
Article: Intra-African Investment – A Pressing Issue, Lise Johnson and Shawn Pelsinger
Article: Openness in Extraction, Lisa E. Sachs and Shefa Siegel
Article: The 2012 US Model BIT and What the Changes (or Lack Thereof) Suggest About Future Investment Treaties, Lise Johnson
Book: Sovereign Investment: Concerns and Policy Reactions, Karl Sauvant, Lisa E. Sachs, and Wouter P.F. Schmit Jongbloed
Book: The Yearbook on International Investment Law & Policy 2010-2011, Karl P. Sauvant
Report/Policy Paper: Background Paper for Second Workshop on Contract Negotiation Support for Developing Host Countries, Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment and Humboldt-Viadrina School of Governance
Report/Policy Paper: Can Timor-Leste Rely on its Endowments to Achieve the Strategic Development Plan Targets?, Nicolas Maennling
Report/Policy Paper: Leveraging Extractive Industry Infrastructure Investments for Broad Economic Development: Regulatory, Commercial and Operational Models for Railways and Ports, Perrine Toledano
Report/Policy Paper: Leveraging the Mining Industry’s Energy Demand to Improve Host Countries’ Power Infrastructure, Perrine Toledano
Report/Policy Paper: Paper on the Business Case for Transparency, Perrine Toledano
Publications from 2011
Article: Wider Role for Our Miners in Africa, Lisa E. Sachs, Joel Negin, and Glenn Denning
Memo/Briefing Note: Memo to the SEC on the Proposed Rule on Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers, Perrine Toledano
Report/Policy Paper: Zambezi Valley Development Study, Lisa E. Sachs and Perrine Toledano
Books from 2010
Book: The Yearbook on International Investment Law & Policy 2009-2010, Karl P. Sauvant
Report/Policy Paper: Investment Promotion Agencies and Sustainable FDI: Moving toward the Fourth Generation of Investment Promotion, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment and World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies
Publications from 2009
Article: Bilateral Investment Treaties and FDI Flows, Lisa E. Sachs
Book: Handbook for Promoting Foreign Direct Investment in Medium-size, Low-Budget Cities in Emerging Markets, Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment and Millennium Cities Initiative
Book: The Effect of Treaties on Foreign Direct Investment: Bilateral Investment Treaties, Double Taxation Treaties and Investment Flows, Karl Sauvant and Lisa E. Sachs
Book: The Yearbook on International Investment Law & Policy 2008-2009, Karl P. Sauvant