The Incorporation and Interpretation of WTO-Style Environmental Exceptions in International Investment Agreements

摘要

This article presents a recent study of the incorporation of general environmental exceptions - modelled on GATT Art ⅩⅩ or GATS Art ⅩⅣ - in international investment agreements (ⅡAs), as based on a survey of 113 ⅡAs signed between 2010 and 2015. It uses the results of this survey to argue that the jurisprudence of the WTO cannot be assumed to offer a definitive interpretation of such exceptions, instead assessing how variations in the text and context of the general environmental exceptions in IIAs might limit or broaden the scope of the protected environmental policy space, and arguing for a treaty-by-treaty approach in terms of interpretation.