Dr Angelica Rutherford

Traditionally, international investment agreements (IIAs) give guarantees to foreign investors, but neither contain enforceable clauses on obligations for foreign investors nor remedies for harmful investment operations. Following international instruments to promote resolutions on corporate responsibility, there has been a shift in the content of IIAs to include direct investor obligation clauses. This chapter firstly examines the concept of investor obligations clauses on which this study will rely. It then carries out a doctrinal analysis of the different types of investor obligations inserted as features in IIAs. This study investigates IIAs available to the public in the UNCTAD database as of 19 March 2025 and which were concluded between January 2008 and February 2025. It aims to map the latest legal developments in the area of investor obligations in IIAs as well as critically examine their scope, interpretation, application and enforcement with a view of fostering foreign investors’ responsibility and accountability in international investment law. To this end, despite its rarity and shortcomings, this chapter demonstrates the leadership of Global South countries in implementing investor obligations in IIAs and the fundamental role to play in increasing responsible investment and achieving objectives related to all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This study adopts a decolonial legal methodology to advance our understanding of GATT/WTO rules on the renewable energy case India – Solar Cells. International Economic Law, in particular WTO law, has been criticised as an instrument for imposing Western ideals of liberal trade globally. Similarly to WTO law, struggles over structures of coloniality is also acknowledged within discussions about energy transitions and energy justice. However, engagements between WTO law on renewable energy and decolonisation have been rare. Renewable energy technologies are considered key low carbon energy sources to the solution of twin problems, energy supply and climate change. Targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 encompass to increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix by 20230 as well as to enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technology, including renewable energy. In correlation with renewable energy’s contribution to energy security, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the threat to disrupt supplies of natural gas show that the commercialisation of renewable energy technologies became even more important. Given the importance of renewable energy to energy security and climate change, this study examines the extent to which a colonial structure is present in the substantive legal outcome of the renewable energy case India- Solar Cells. The output of this work will contribute to the efforts to shed light on the legal challenges for the expansion of renewable energy worldwide as well as to the need to widen access to green energy technologies globally in the context of the just energy transition.

Workshop 'Energising Sustainable Development: A Review of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7'

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a new technology considered to have the potential to decarbonise economies. However, nationally and internationally the use of CCS has also been raising concerns about its potential global risks and adverse impacts on the environment. CCS was part of the discussions at the fourth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in March 2019 and in side-events in the 26th UN Climate Change Conference that took place in Glasgow in November 2021. The UK Government aims to deploy CCS at scale during the 2030s, subject to cost reduction. At the same time, the UK Government has recently enacted the Environment Act 2021, which provides a set of five environmental principles: the integration principle, the principle of preventative action, the precautionary principle, the rectification at source principle and the polluter pays principle. This work seeks to analyse the application of the UK environmental law principles to carbon capture and storage policies in the United Kingdom and its balance with other considerations. Given the concerns surrounding the use of CCS, the debate about its legality may arise in the United Kingdom and in other countries. To this end, this paper initially carries out a systematic review of CCS policy documents to discover the policy considerations that support the development of CCS. It then examines the application of the UK environmental law principles to CCS initiatives and its balance with other considerations, such as reduction of carbon emissions, security of energy supply, economic growth and technological leadership. In doing so, this paper aims at contributing to the debate surrounding recent technological developments that have been utilised to help address climate change and some of the legal challenges emerging through the use of CCS under UK environmental law.

Although the fusion energy sector is at a nascent stage, the private fusion energy market has grown. There are currently 38 private fusion energy companies around the world aiming to commercialize fusion energy technologies in early 2030s and 2040s. Given the capability of fusion energy in transforming today’s energy paradigm and the global character of the market, it is important to analyze how these companies are interacting with international human rights standards. Therefore, this work investigates the involvement of the private fusion energy sector with two voluntary international initiatives in particular: the UN Global Compact and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP). This study attempts to answer two research questions: (i) Are private fusion energy companies participating in the UN Global Compact? (ii) How are private fusion energy companies publicly implementing the UNGP? Content analysis of secondary data collected from the UN Global Compact, Fusion Industry Association, ITER and companies’ official websites as well as published reports is adopted. In summary, this work finds that private fusion energy companies are neither participants nor signatories of the UN Global Compact. Their observance of the UNGP is also very poor. This study contributes to the field by highlighting this gap which the private fusion energy companies need to consider and take measures towards, in order to create a salutary human rights sector.

This book shows how the links between energy security and national and international law and policies on green energy pose challenges to a transition towards a green energy system. Based on empirical work carried out in two very different country case studies – Great Britain and Brazil – this book attempts to foster a better understanding of the role played by energy security in constructing and deconstructing green energy policy initiatives. The broad range of views raised in national contexts leads to legal disputes in international forums when attempts are made to address the issues of this energy security/green energy interplay. As such, building on the findings of the case studies, this book then analyses the interplay between energy security and green energy development in international trade law as encapsulated in the law of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Finally, the author proposes a way forward in creating the legal space in the law of the WTO for trade restrictivemeasures aimed at ensuring green energy security.

This article examines the clashes between national policies promoting green energy and international trade liberalisation commitments, using the Brazilian biofuels programmes, in particular the measures of mandatory blending and the Social Fuel Seal, as a case example. Drawing on past and present Brazilian legislation, this study initially analyses the driving forces behind the development of the biofuels agenda in Brazil and is followed by a discussion of the general principles of the law of the World Trade Organization concerning subsidies, national treatment and non-discriminatory rules, and the applicability of environmental, social inclusion and energy security exceptions to domestic policies supporting green energy.

Presentation at Leeds Law School Dialogue 'Technology and Legal Research'

Traditionally, international investment agreements (IIAs) give guarantees to foreign investors, but neither contain enforceable clauses on obligations for foreign investors nor remedies for harmful investment operations. Following international instruments to promote resolutions on corporate responsibility, there has been a shift in the content of IIAs to include direct investor obligation clauses. This chapter firstly examines the concept of investor obligations clauses on which this study will rely. It then carries out a doctrinal analysis of the different types of investor obligations inserted as features in IIAs. This study investigates IIAs available to the public in the UNCTAD database as of 19 March 2025 and which were concluded between January 2008 and February 2025. It aims to map the latest legal developments in the area of investor obligations in IIAs as well as critically examine their scope, interpretation, application, and enforcement with a view of fostering foreign investors’ responsibility and accountability in international investment law. To this end, despite its rarity and shortcomings, this chapter demonstrates the leadership of Global South countries in implementing investor obligations in IIAs and the fundamental role to play in increasing responsible investment and achieving objectives related to all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).