Biography
Lise Johnson represents governments in investment treaty arbitration and public international law matters. This includes disputes under bilateral investment treaties and the Energy Charter Treaty, and under various arbitration rules. She also supports governments in developing model investment treaties and in negotiating treaties with other States.
Investment Law and International Investment Treaties
She has participated as a delegate in ISDS reform negotiations at the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), both during development of the UNCITRAL Rules on Transparency, and in ongoing efforts to address concerns with ISDS. Having written and published widely on issues of international investment and sustainable development, she has also been invited to participate in various government committees and fora established to inform investment treaty policy, and has provided briefings to legislative bodies including the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, the UK House of Lords and the European Parliament, on issues relating to investment treaty negotiations.
Ms. Johnson is frequently asked to provide background and guidance in meetings and initiatives organized by various intergovernmental organizations including the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), UNCITRAL, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the African Union, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO); and the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA).
Ms. Johnson joined Curtis from the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) at Columbia University in New York, and remains as a Senior Fellow with the center. Prior to joining CCSI, she was an advisor with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), and a litigator at an international law firm.