The present Report seeks to clarify the rationale for the inclusion in international investment agreements of new provisions on sustainable investment and to determine how they align with international standards on sustainable investment, identifying areas where a stronger integration of sustainable investment objectives could be pursued. In this exercise, it relies on the principles of the OECD FDI Qualities Recommendation, sets out an ambitious framework based on five key high-level policy principles to which Adherents commit to with a view to strengthening sustainable investment.
This Report was prepared by the OECD Secretariat (Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, Investment Division) with financial assistance from the European Commission. It was drafted by Alessandra Mistura under the general guidance of Ana Novik (Head of the OECD Investment Division) and Martin Wermelinger (Head of the Sustainable Investment Unit, Investment Division). Rania Amptel-Chafiz and Maria Camila Munoz provided valuable support in the performance of legal and policy research. The Report also benefited from input by Stephen Thomsen, Alexandre de Crombrugghe, Fernando Mistura, Fares Al Hussami, Iris Mantovani, Yasmina Najem, David Gaukrodger, Joachim Pohl, Rima Bugaighis, and Faraz Moosa (all from the Investment Division). Tihana Bule, Froukje Boele, and Marie Bouchard (Responsible Business Conduct Division), as well as Catriona Marshall and Coralie Martin (both from the Development Cooperation Directorate) also provided valuable feedback in the preparation of the Report. Meral Gedik and Lucinda Pearson prepared the Report for publication.
Information for this Report was collected from publicly accessible government sources, in particular legislation, public reports, and official government websites, as well as OECD work in selected countries and other publicly available information by International Organisations.
This Report is developed in the context of the project titled “Integrating principles of FDI Qualities into future investment agreements”, implemented with the financial support of the European Commission. The analysis that the Report carries out on treaty language for sustainable investment is not prescriptive and not intended to reflect OECD member states' views. The Report should not be construed as prejudicing or influencing ongoing or future investment treaty negotiations that may be undertaken individually by OECD members or governments that participate in the work on investment at the OECD. It remains understood that the content of each investment treaty should be determined by relevant contracting parties, on the basis of their own policy decisions and different national circumstances.