Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Mechanisms and the Right to a Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment

IISD joint submission, together with CIEL and ClientEarth, to the report "Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms and the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment". The report is prepared by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, Professor David R. Boyd, and will be presented to the UN General Assembly in October 2023.State experience and public participation in ISDS claims challenging measures intended to address climate change, protect the environment, or advance the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment,A. ISDS claims are numerous, often opaque, and largely inaccessible to the public There are at least 175 treaty-based ISDS cases, closed or pending, that are tied to environmental measures.[1] Many of those cases challenge measures that regulate polluting activities or protect the environment.[2] These include claims related to the termination of mining concessions due to environmental concerns,[3] claims brought following constitutional decisions to ban certain types of mining activities in protected areas,[4] claims arising out of a restriction on oil and gas activities due to environmental concerns,[5] or claims challenging the phase-out of coal-fired power plants.[6] More generally, claims have also arisen out of environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) processes, particularly those concluding that an exploitation license or permit should be denied, halting an investment project deemed to have unacceptable environmental or social impacts, or whose impacts cannot be mitigated.