On Sustainable Development And The Perfection Of International Investment Agreements

For a long time, International Investment Agreements (hereinafter "IIAs") dominated by developed countries overemphasize investors’ interests. Host states, home states, investors and citizens of host states are all the stakeholders in international investment activities, however, their interests are not protected equally. The problem of ignoring public interests of host states while overprotecting private interests of investors has become increasingly serious. In recent years, many cases concerning states’measures to protect public interests were filed for arbitrations. This phenomenon highlights the problem from another angle.Sustainable development which carries the value of inter-generation equity and intra-generation equity offers guidance for solving this problem. In the context of international law, the normative content of sustainable development provides the specific direction for balancing different interests. This paper reviews the values of sustainable development and its normative content under international law, analyzes the current problems in IIAs, and tries to perfect IIAs under the guidance of inter-generation equity and intra-generation equity.Except the preface and conclusion, this paper is divided into four chapters.The first chapter introduces the background of incorporating sustainable development into IIAs. The chapter reviews the history of the concept of sustainable development, delves into its values and its normative content under international law, analyzes the problems in current IIAs and suggests the framework for perfecting IIAs.The second chapter discusses how to perfect IIAs under the guidance of intra-generation equity. Common but differentiated responsibility, public participation and access to information, and good governance are the embodiments of intra-generation equity. This chapter discusses the provision options for incorporating common but differentiated responsibility, public participation and access to information, and good governance into IIAs, and makes some comments on the related provisions.The third chapter will discuss how to perfect IIAs under the guidance of inter-generation equity. Sustainable use of natural resources and precautionary approach are the embodiments of inter-generation equity. This chapter discusses the provision options for incorporating sustainable use of natural resources and precautionary approach into IIAs, and makes some comments on the related provisions.The fourth chapter comments on the rights and obligations in the perfected IIAs, their influences on domestic law and policies, and their role in coordinating the different obligations carried by states.