Legal Issues Of Environmental Provisions In International Investment Agreements

The impact of international investment to the host country is a "double-edged sword" : on the one hand, the international investment has improved the efficiency of the global resources’ allocation and promoted the sustainable economic development of the host country; and on the other hand, the international investment will cause serious environmental pollution and environmental damage. From the beginning of the 1980 s, the environmental issues under international investment has also attracted worldwide attention. With the increasing concern of global environmental issues, the conflicts between international investment and environmental protection is particularly prominent. To regulate the adverse effects on the host country’s environment, the international investment agreements are going to realize full attention to environment issues by incorporating the provisions of environment. The progressive realization of the international investment corporation of change-oriented legislation, promoting international investment and man, man and nature, multinational harmony with local residents and community groups, which will become an important trend in the future development of international investment law.Addition to the introduction, the paper text is divided into four parts.The first part of this paper is to international investment agreements brief overview of environmental provisions. First, select some typical bilateral investment agreements or free trade agreements, both in terms of environmental provisions in international investment agreements to evolve a comprehensive history of combing from earlier periods and recent period. Finally, summarize the current international investment agreements three typical environmental provisions which include: preambular provisions, exclusions environment, specifically environmental provisions, and the different types of environmental provisions to introduct to international investment agreements briefly.The second part of this paper is to comment the provisions of international agreements from the content. In some representative bilateral investment treaty "investment" special chapter in environmental regulations or the terms of the specific content of the Free Trade Agreement, for example, firstly summarize the contents of the environmentthe international investment agreements, and then point out in international investment agreements environmental provisions the main problem in the presence of a predetermined content at this stage: environmental provisions lack of effective legal binding; environmental exclusions and specialized content expressed slightly broader environmental provisions, the fuzzy, flexible, definition of key terms, cause it difficult to play the effectiveness of environmental provisions of the exemption.The third part of this paper is a typical case involving international investments related to environmental protection perspective of investment protection provisions of the international investment agreements impose terms and "national treatment", "fair and equitable treatment" and other two aspects to analyze international environmental provisions of the investment Agreement the main legal issues: one is the effectiveness and status of environmental provisions in international investment agreements are far inferior to impose terms, investment protection provisions; the other is due to the current environmental provisions in international investment agreements exist on the content defect makes itself less rigid environmental provisions, resulting in environmental terms applicable conflict with the expropriation or restrictions on investment protection provisions. On this basis, further exploration of international investment arbitration practice, expropriation and environmental causes of conflict in terms of the applicable terms of the environment and investment protection provisions applicable limit performance.The fourth part of this paper briefly introduces the form and the features of the contents in China’s current environment provisions from the perspective of the China-New Zealand FTA. At the same time the development and improvement of environmental provisions in international investment agreements for reference, further analysis of the problem of the current Chinese investment provisions of international agreements that exist in the environment, and the effectiveness of coordination of environmental provisions, environmental provisions to improve the content, improve domestic legislative measures, and put forward the countermeasures and suggestions with the realities of China ’s actual situation.