Breaking the Silos – Bringing a Human Rights Perspective Into the IIA Reform Debate

The current system of investment treaties is broken. A system that gives the right to sue governments for the loss of future profits unilaterally to foreign investors in front of private arbitration tribunals. The issue of investor responsibilities is also dealt with in another context, namely within the UN Human Rights system. To what extent are investor responsibilities already part of the current IIA reform debate? How are investor responsibilities currently discussed in the two human rights work streams dealing with the issue? How could a link between the IIA reform debate and the human rights debate provide a way forward towards a new system of just and balanced investment agreements and investment contracts? This and other questions were discussed by Aldo Caliari (Center of Concern), Georgios Altintzis (ITUC) and others.