International Investment Law and the Extractive Industries Sector

Authors

Lise Johnson, Columbia Law School, Columbia Center on Sustainable InvestmentFollow
Jesse Coleman, Columbia Law School, Columbia Center on Sustainable DevelopmentFollow

Document Type

Memo/Briefing Note

Publication Date

1-2016

Abstract

Since the 1990s, international investment law has been rapidly evolving, resulting in a complex web of over 3,000 investment treaties. These treaties have been used to challenge a wide range of host state actions and inactions that have allegedly negatively affected foreign investors or investments. Those challenges, in turn, expose host states to potentially significant financial costs, and can restrict the ability of such states to maximize the benefits, and limit the environmental and social harms, that can result from the exploitation of natural resources. This briefing note provides an introduction to international investment law, with a view to assisting stakeholders in grasping the diverse and significant implications of this body of law for the governance of investments in the extractive industries sector.

Disciplines

Environmental Law | International Law | Land Use Law | Law | Natural Resources Law | Oil, Gas, and Mineral Law | Securities Law | Transnational Law

Recommended Citation

Lise Johnson & Jesse Coleman, International Investment Law and the Extractive Industries Sector, (2016).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/sustainable_investment_staffpubs/37