17th December 2005

Hong Kong Trade and Development Symposium Session 11.4: Rethinking International Investment Law in the Era of Globalization: IISD’s Model International Agreement on Investment for Sustainable Development

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The session will provide an opportunity to present IISD’s seminal work on international investment agreements to a broad international and multi-stakeholder audience. IISD’s Model International Agreement for Sustainable Development was launched in April 2005 at the Commonwealth Headquarters in London, UK. It will be reprinted in a refereed journal later in 2005, and has formed the basis of multiple meetings between IISD Associates and representatives of developing and developed countries.

This session would provide a unique opportunity for dialogue on the Model Agreement in a multi-stakeholder, multi-national environment. In addition to a brief presentation of the Model Agreement, IISD has commitments from Marcos Orellana, a Chilean who is the investment specialist at the Centre for International Environmental Law, and Richard Newfarmer, senior World Bank economist, to be participants on a panel discussion of the text. When approval is received, IISD will approach representatives of a developing country organization to ensure a diverse and balanced panel discussion.

The comments form the session will then feed into the ongoing review of the text of the Model Agreement, as well as inform IISD’s direct advisory work with developing countries in this field.

Agenda

Aaron Cosbey, Senior Associate, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)

Howard Mann, Senior International Law Advisor to IISD

Comment by Richard Newfarmer, Economic Advisor to the Economic Policy and Prospects Group at the World Bank in Washington DC

Comment by Marcos Orellana, Senior Attorney focusing on investment at the Centre for International Environmental Law

Questions and answer

Speakers’ Bios

Aaron Cosbey, is a Senior Associate with IISD. Aaron has over fifteen years experience as a trade, investment and sustainable development analyst. He is widely published in the field. Aaron is an environmental economist by training, and serves on several special advisory committees to the government of Canada on trade and sustainable development issues.

Howard Mann is the Senior International Law Advisor to IISD and the lead author of the Model Agreement. He represented IISD in its precedent setting amicus intervention in the Methanex v. United States investor-state arbitration under NAFTA, and is actively involved in other investor-state cases as well. He has also sat on Ministerial advisory committees on trade and investment issues.

Richard Newfarmer is the Economic Advisor to the Economic Policy and Prospects Group at the World Bank in Washington DC. He has been active over several years in supporting direct foreign investments into developing countries. In more recent years, Mr. Newfarmer has been a primary author of several World Bank reports on international investment and development, and is a key advisor at the Bank on new directions in trade and investment agreements.

Marcos Orellana is a Senior Attorney focusing on investment at the Centre for International Environmental Law. Originally from Chile, Marcos has worked as a government lawyer and for civil society groups as a lawyer in his native country. He currently represents civil society groups in an intervention in the investor-state arbitrations facing Argentine, and in a separate intervention in the water dispute between Bechtel and Bolivia.

Organisers

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD): Founded in 1990, IISD contributes to sustainable development by advancing policy recommendations on international trade and investment, economic policy, climate change, measurement and indicators, and natural resource management.

Background Documents

IISD Model International Agreement on Investment for Sustainable Development: Negotiators’ Handbook