Los Tratados de Inversión como Herramientas de Asignación de Riesgos

This policy brief by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) argues that investment treaties should be reframed as public risk allocation tools rather than merely legal instruments. It contends that these treaties act as a form of 'unpriced public insurance' that transfers political and regulatory risks from private investors to host states, often without the safeguards or pricing mechanisms found in other de-risking tools.

• Investment treaties function as instruments of public insurance that shift political and regulatory risks from foreign investors to host states, often operating as a "public insurance without a price."
• Unlike other risk-reduction tools such as political risk insurance or sovereign loan guarantees, investment treaties provide unconditional and automatic protection without requiring premiums, prior controls, or performance parameters.
• The Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system converts political risk into legally enforceable financial obligations, with compensation awards that can be viewed by bond markets and credit rating agencies as contingent fiscal liabilities.
• There is a risk of "double recovery" or strategic arbitrage when investment treaties overlap with other risk mitigation tools, allowing investors to seek compensation from multiple sources for the same risk event.
• The IISD recommends that policymakers evaluate investment treaties alongside functionally equivalent risk allocation tools and terminate or revise those that duplicate or undermine more effective accountability mechanisms.
• The brief advocates for increased coordination between finance ministries, development banks, and insurers to streamline risk reduction efforts and ensure a transparent and fair distribution of risks.

APA

Ostřanský, J., & Schaugg, L. (2025). Los Tratados de Inversión como Herramientas de Asignación de Riesgos. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2025-07/investment-treaties-risk-allocation-tool-es.pdf

Chicago

Ostřanský, Josef, and Lukas Schaugg. Los Tratados de Inversión como Herramientas de Asignación de Riesgos. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2025. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2025-07/investment-treaties-risk-allocation-tool-es.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ostřanský |first1=Josef |last2=Schaugg |first2=Lukas |title=Los Tratados de Inversión como Herramientas de Asignación de Riesgos |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=July 2025 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2025-07/investment-treaties-risk-allocation-tool-es.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ostansk2025los, author = {Ostřanský, Josef and Schaugg, Lukas}, title = {{Los Tratados de Inversión como Herramientas de Asignación de Riesgos}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2025}, month = jul, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2025-07/investment-treaties-risk-allocation-tool-es.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }