Integrating Sustainable Development in International Investment Law, by Manjiao Chi

The idea of sustainable development has a long history and is comparable to that of democracy, freedom, and justice.3 In the twenty-first century, sustainable development is an unavoidable paradigm underpinning all human actions from local to global levels, in both the public and private sectors. Sustainable development is high on the global governance agenda and needs to be followed by making a balance between the competing priorities of economic growth, environmental protection, and social progress.4 Sustainable development, on the one hand, is closely dependent on transnational investment activities to promote economic growth, especially in developing countries. On the other hand, it requires foreign investors to consider socio-environmental issues associated with their investment activities. Despite the universal importance of the role of transnational investment activities in sustainable development, whether and to what extent international investment law could amount to a legal norm that protects socio-environmental values while encouraging economic growth is not a settled issue