THE RIGHT AND DUTY TO REGULATE IN THE CONTEXT OF MEGA-INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT

IIA-related break-out sessions
organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Heinrich Böll Foundation 
Event
Session Type
Breakout sessions
Room number
Room XXV
Contact Email
elisabeth.tuerk@unctad.org
26 October 2018
08:30 - 10:00 Europe/Zurich
Europe/Zurich

Infrastructure investment is vital for the realization of many, if not most, internationally recognized human rights. However, if poorly conceived, designed or implemented, infrastructure investments may carry significant social, fiscal and environmental risks. The purpose of this break-out session organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Heinrich Böll Foundation is to address the risk for IIAs and investor-State contracts to constrain contracting authorities’ policy space and right to regulate in the public interest.

The experts in the panel will speak about the key dimensions of the “right to regulate” in international investment law as it pertains to mega-infrastructure investment, laying the ground for an open discussion on potential reform options in international investment policy.

Issues for debate

  • Entry points for human rights due diligence, framed by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and UN Principles for Responsible investor-State contracts
  • Amending IIAs to include investors’ responsibilities to respect international human rights and environmental law
  • Rebalancing investors’ rights and human rights in investor-State contracts

Speaker(s)

Senior Legal Adviser, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Coordinator, The Observatory for Sustainable Infrastructure
Co-Chair, Global Business Initiative on Human Rights
Legal Researcher, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Director, Legal, International Trade and Investment, Trade Negotiations Unit, International Trade & Economic Development Division, Department of Trade and Industry, South Africa