The Impact of International Investment Law on the Right to Clean, Affordable, and Accessible Water [Article]

Abstract

Water is necessary for the achievement of global sustainable development objectives and critical to sustaining life on earth. Economic activities, spanning from extractives development to water services privatization schemes, have critically impacted water resources, particularly in developing economies. While State governments endeavor to protect their water resources, regulate in the interest of their populations, or legislate to protect the environment, the current international investment law regime allows foreign investors to initiate arbitration alleging violations of investment treaties, such as inequitable treatment or expropriations of their investment projects. This arbitral process is outlined through investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions in investment treaties. This Article examines the contexts and outcomes of a number of current and past ISDS cases to outline how State efforts to ensure the right to clean, affordable water and protect its environmental resources have been compromised by ISDS. States, in implementing legislation and regulation in the interest of protecting water resources and achieving sustainable development, should consider the effects that ISDS and international investment law have on domestic rulemaking.