Conference: Bridging the gap between Investment Law and the Environment

On November 4-5, 2013, a conference on "Bridging the gap between Investment Law and the Environment" will take place in The Hague. The program is here. Here's the idea:

International investment law is a growing field of law that has witnessed an explosive growth in the last decade. This is characterized by the proliferation of International Investment Agreements (IIAs) and the phenomenal increase in investment arbitrations. The large network of IIAs and investment disputes has brought a number of questions that exceed the discipline of international investment law. One of them is the role of non-investment objectives, e.g. protection of the environment, in the framework of the investment regime. Environmental regulations of States have been challenged by investors within the framework of international investment law, because they allegedly conflict with investment protection rules. In these circumstances, States face a dilemma as, on the one hand, they have to comply with environmental obligations, but, on the other, they have to fulfil their economic obligations under IIAs. This conference will discuss the relationship between these two areas of the law. The specific focus of the conference will be on Climate Change and International Investment Law. Climate Change is one of the key challenges that the planet currently faces. It is a complex problem that impacts not only on the environment, but also global issues such as sustainable deve