Many governments are increasingly recognising the need to ensure that trade and investment agreements reflect environmental concerns to help achieve overarching environmental goals and to increase their public acceptability. In particular, investment liberalisation and protection, as well as environmental sustainability are essential elements to consider in these agreements to foster economic integration and require coherent policy approaches.

In this context, this report investigates possible approaches that can help ensure policy coherence between investment and environment related provisions in regional trade agreements (RTAs). As investment related articles appear not only in RTAs but more broadly in bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and in other international investment agreements (IIAs), the work extends to trade and investment agreements that encompass RTAs, BITs and other IIAs. The report highlights available practices to ensure that investment related provisions reaffirm the domestic environmental policy space.