2024-11-10-联合国贸易发展委员-联合国贸易发展委员会-国际投资协定趋势_新旧条约之间的分歧日益加剧（英）_17页_325kb

Overview of International Investment Agreements

Key Trends in IIAs

• New-generation IIAs increasingly include provisions on investment facilitation, cooperation, and safeguarding states' rights to regulate, moving away from pure protectionism.
• Old-generation treaties remain prominent, covering about half of global foreign direct investment (FDI) stock and dominating active agreements in number.
• Investment facilitation is prominent in recent IIAs, with growing commitment to digitalization to support implementation, though much remains needed for sustainable investment focus.

Reform Status

• IIA reform progresses slowly, with many terminations not leading to widespread adoption of new terms.
• Outdated sunset clauses in terminations continue, extending ISDS access up to 20 years post-termination.
• New treaties often replace older ones but inconsistently integrate reformed clauses, limiting the effectiveness of reform efforts.

FDI Coverage and Risks

• Old-generation IIAs dominate FDI coverage, with higher exposure for developing economies and least developed countries (LDCs), leading to greater risk of investor-State disputes (ISDS).
• ISDS accounts for nearly all recent cases, imposing significant financial burdens on developing nations, with average awards reaching hundreds of millions of dollars.
• Reform since 2012 reduced coverage for about 13% of FDI stock but left LDCs largely unaffected, highlighting inequities in global investment governance.

Emphasis on Sustainable Investment and Facilitation

• Recent IIAs include extensive facilitation commitments, such as transparency, streamlined administrative procedures, and digital tools, aimed at sustainable development.
• Digitalization serves as a key mechanism to operationalize these commitments, enabling efficiency in stakeholder engagement and regulatory processes for sustainable investments.
• Policy options emphasize defining investment scope through sustainability criteria, leveraging digital tools, and enhancing cooperation to align IIAs with sustainable development goals (SDGs).

UNCTAD's Role and Recommendations

• UNCTAD advocates for urgent IIA reform to mitigate ISDS risks and promote sustainable investment, integrating digitalization to improve implementation capacity.
• Proposed policy actions include redefining "investment" to reflect sustainability, prioritizing regulatory reforms, and ensuring technical assistance for developing countries.
• Ongoing efforts include facilitating stakeholder dialogue and coordinating global reform initiatives, such as the Multi-Stakeholder Platform for IIA Reform.

Conclusion
The IIA regime remains divided between old and new treaties, with slow reform exacerbating risks for less developed nations. Accelerated reform, incorporating sustainability and digitalization, is needed to address challenges and support sustainable development effectively.