The Role of Sustainable Development in the Evolution of Investment Treaties

Sustainable development has become the epicenter of collective international policy-making. As such, foreign direct investment, as the empowering engine for SD, has attracted much attention. It is believed that sustainable development cannot be achieved without foreign investment. Traditional international investment agreements have been criticized for protecting foreign investors who deviate from the requirements of sustainable development. This has led to changes in these treaties, which are the subject of the present article. It seems that in the light of the plurality of references to sustainable development in new investment agreements, a balance has been created between the goals of sustainable development and the protection of foreign investors.