Cambridge Scholars Publishing Public Interests in International Investment Law: Balancing Protection for Investor and Environment

Are conflicts between the ‘old capitalists’ and ‘new money’ manifest in today’s economy? Are investment treaties, which have traditionally been used to protect capital exporting states, now beginning to cause unwelcome side effects for them? International investment law has long been held as an economic and political instrument in the regime of international investment, with international investment treaties having been concluded to protect foreign investment and investors for a substantial period of time. However, the emerging new economic powers from the Third World are causing this to change. Taking the unique perspective of environmental protection in host states against states’ obligations to protect and promote foreign investments under the existing international investment treaty practice and dispute settlement practices, this book examines this inescapable conflict. This is the first major work in this field to interpret investment treaty provisions by introducing environmental reflection. It offers proposals for rethinking and reshaping the current pro-investor international investment law through taking up broad environmental exceptions. Review “Dr Qiang Ren has produced a useful resource outlining some of the key developments in investment treaty law and practice as regards state responsibility for environmental measures. The book weaves into its analysis the hitherto little-known examples of the interplay between investment protection norms and national environment protection policies in jurisdictions such as China.”Dr Mavluda SattorovaUniversity of Liverpool, UK“Dr Qiang Ren has made an excellent scholastic contribution to the environmental protection and international investment law which has become one of the most critical points at issue in the contemporary world. His lucid and comprehensible work covers the vast range of legal and policy issues regarding the human environment concern over foreign investment especially after the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. This monograph is highly readable and well structured.”Dr Eric Yong Joong LeeYIJUN Institute of International Law, South Korea About the Author Qiang Ren received his LLB and LLM degrees from the China University of Political Science and Law, and obtained his PhD degree in Law at the University of Liverpool in 2016. His research fields are international law, international economic law and international investment law. While in Liverpool, he joined the Liverpool International and Human Rights Law Unit and the Liverpool Economic Governance Unit. He published in both Chinese and English, and has presented papers at globally recognised platforms in Oxford, Birmingham, and Geneva, among others.