This article begins from the observation that there have been a number of developments in international investment law-making and the jurisprudence of investor-state dispute settlement tribunals involving the protection of the environment and human rights. As for law-making, this article explores the evolving substance of international investment agreements as well as regulatory developments in the area of business and human rights that are of relevance to the international investment law framework. The article then turns to consider the emergence of human rights and environmental issues in the recent jurisprudence of investment tribunals and appraises how such issues have been dealt with—both in procedural and substantive terms—by arbitral tribunals. Finally, it questions whether investment tribunals are appropriate venues for the adjudication of non-investment matters like environmental and human rights issues, and highlights best practices that could be adopted by future tribunals. Overall, the article concludes that the piecemeal approach adopted to date provides a step in the right direction but is ultimately inadequate given the multiple challenges that our planet currently faces. Rather, a more ambitious agenda that is concerned with promoting good investment, as opposed to mitigating bad practices, should be pursued.

中文翻译：

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贫瘠世界中的新芽：国际投资法的最新发展

本文首先观察到国际投资立法和投资者与国家争端解决法庭的判例在保护环境和人权方面取得了一些进展。至于立法，本文探讨了国际投资协议不断演变的实质内容，以及与国际投资法框架相关的商业和人权领域的监管发展。然后，文章转而考虑最近投资法庭判例中出现的人权和环境问题，并评估仲裁庭如何处理这些问题——包括程序和实体方面的问题。最后，它质疑投资法庭是否是裁决环境和人权问题等非投资事项的适当场所，并强调了未来法庭可以采用的最佳做法。总的来说，本文得出的结论是，迄今为止采用的零敲碎打的方法朝着正确的方向迈出了一步，但鉴于我们的星球目前面临的多重挑战，最终还是不够的。相反，应该追求一个更加雄心勃勃的议程，关注促进良好的投资，而不是减少不良做法。文章的结论是，迄今为止采取的零敲碎打的方法朝着正确的方向迈出了一步，但鉴于我们星球目前面临的多重挑战，最终还是不够的。相反，应该追求一个更加雄心勃勃的议程，关注促进良好的投资，而不是减少不良做法。文章的结论是，迄今为止采取的零敲碎打的方法朝着正确的方向迈出了一步，但鉴于我们星球目前面临的多重挑战，最终还是不够的。相反，应该追求一个更加雄心勃勃的议程，关注促进良好的投资，而不是减少不良做法。