Overcoming conflicts between investment protection and human rights through corporate sustainability due diligence?

Krajewski M (2025)


Publication Type: Book chapter / Article in edited volumes

Publication year: 2025

Edited Volumes: Global Corporations and Sustainability

Pages Range: 107-126

ISBN: 9781035353835

DOI: 10.4337/9781035353835.00011

Abstract

This chapter explores the tensions between international investment law and human rights, focusing on the structural incompatibilities that lead to conflicts rather than ideological differences. It argues that investment agreements, which primarily impose negative obligations on states to protect foreign investors, limit regulatory measures essential for fulfilling human rights obligations. The chapter reviews past attempts to reconcile these regimes through treaty reforms, procedural changes, and efforts to establish direct investor obligations, finding them largely ineffective. Instead, the discussion highlights the potential of corporate sustainability due diligence as a mechanism to mitigate these conflicts. By incorporating binding human rights due diligence laws into investment arbitration procedures under the ‘clean hands’ doctrine, states can reduce the adverse effects of investment protection on human rights enforcement. The chapter concludes by calling for broader adoption of due diligence legislation, particularly in the Global South, as a strategy to address imbalances in international investment law.

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How to cite

APA:

Krajewski, M. (2025). Overcoming conflicts between investment protection and human rights through corporate sustainability due diligence? In Global Corporations and Sustainability. (pp. 107-126).

MLA:

Krajewski, Markus. "Overcoming conflicts between investment protection and human rights through corporate sustainability due diligence?" Global Corporations and Sustainability. 2025. 107-126.

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