International Natural Resources Law, Investment and Sustainability

"In recent years, a surge in natural resource investments has prompted both hopes and fears for efforts to promote sustainable development, and created new challenges for international lawyers. Yet few academic publications have explored the role of international law in addressing the interface between transnational investment processes and the management of natural resources. This rich collection of essays is therefore both relevant and timely. It covers impressively vast ground, combining thoughtful analyses of the foundational issues with a discussion of recent developments in specific sectors or themes. A recommended reading for anybody interested in the international legal dimensions of resource-based investments." –Lorenzo Cotula, International Institute for Environment and Development, UK

"The collection of papers published in this volume entitled International Natural Resources Law, Investment and Sustainability is timely as it comes soon after the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on Sustainable Development (SDGs) in September 2015 and the first report of the International Law Association’s Committee on Sustainable Natural Resources Management for Development in 2016. The analyses of different legal aspects of the complex concept of sustainable development will be valuable, in particular, for those devising national strategies for implementation of the SDGs. The challenge of change which societies face in different stages of development has needed a framework which would identify and elucidate the different facets of sustainable development. Juristic writings such as those contained in this volume contribute to a better understanding of the different dimensions of the complex concept, which is necessary if appropriate polices and strategies are to be devised to realize sustainable development." –Dr Kamal Hossain, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Bangladesh

"The analysis that follows in this book, edited by respected academics Shawkat Alam, Jahid Hossain Bhuiyan, and Jona Razzaque, thus tackles one of the most daunting fields of global governance for environmental law practitioners and scholars. Their work offers a much-needed contribution to prevailing legal and policy discourse. Sustainable use and conservation of natural resources is a global imperative in order to avoid climate change and other catastrophic planetary threats. This important volume brings together an array of international scholars to assess the implications of global investment law for the regulation of natural resources, and the impact of a suite of changing dynamics from carbon trading to corporate social responsibility. Readers will find the pages that follow both a valuable critique and rich palette of ideas for better governance of the resources economy." –Professor Benjamin J. Richardson, University of Tasmania, Australia