Developing a Progressive Agenda for Reform of International Investment Law: Canadian perspectives

The report details discussions between Canadian government officials, academics, and civil society on reforming international investment law. It argues that traditional investment treaties, focused on investor protection, often conflict with sustainable development goals and human rights. Key proposals include shifting the focus of treaties toward sustainable development, conducting broad impact assessments, and reforming or eliminating investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms to protect the state's right to regulate in the public interest, particularly for climate change objectives.

• Participants argued that traditional investment treaties, designed in the 1950s to protect Western investments abroad, do not have a meaningful role in promoting investment flows, as empirical studies show a "near-zero correlation between investment treaties and the promotion of investment flows."
• Current investment treaties and investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms are perceived to hinder climate action and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by reinforcing power imbalances and encroaching on the "policy space of host states to regulate in the public interest."
• The Clayton/Bilcon v. Canada case is cited as an example of how ISDS can undermine domestic environmental law, where a tribunal found that a joint federal and provincial environmental impact assessment (EIA) process breached NAFTA obligations, effectively rewriting "Canadian EIA law."
• The Government of Canada is pursuing a progressive trade agenda that includes robust chapters on environment and labour, as seen in the CPTPP, and dedicated gender chapters in modernized FTAs with Chile and Israel.
• Experts proposed that any new investment treaty should be preceded by broad impact assessments covering "environmental (including climate change), social (including gender) and human rights risks" both in Canada and abroad.
• To protect climate action, experts suggested that treaties provide a "safe harbour" so that governments can implement obligations under other international agreements, such as the Paris Agreement, without being challenged by investors.
• There is a strong call to balance investor rights with enforceable obligations regarding corruption, taxation, labour, environment, and human rights, moving beyond mere "hortatory language on corporate social responsibility."
• Regarding dispute settlement, participants suggested a range of alternatives to traditional ISDS, including its complete elimination, the use of state-state dispute settlement, or the adoption of a permanent investment tribunal system like the one in CETA.
• Alternative methods to protect investors without using ISDS were discussed, such as political risk insurance through Export Development Canada (EDC) or the World Bank GroupMIGA, and investor-state contracts.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2018). Developing a Progressive Agenda for Reform of International Investment Law: Canadian perspectives. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/report-ottawa-expert-meeting-june-2018.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Developing a Progressive Agenda for Reform of International Investment Law: Canadian perspectives. 2018. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/report-ottawa-expert-meeting-june-2018.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Developing a Progressive Agenda for Reform of International Investment Law: Canadian perspectives |date=2018 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/report-ottawa-expert-meeting-june-2018.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2018developing, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Developing a Progressive Agenda for Reform of International Investment Law: Canadian perspectives}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2018}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/report-ottawa-expert-meeting-june-2018.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }