Romesh Weeramantry & Montse Ferrer, “Chapter 13: Going green? The evolution of environmental provisions in India’s investment treaties,” in Kate Miles, ed, Research Handbook on Environment and Investment Law (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2019).
India has had more Bilateral Investment Treaty (“BIT”) arbitrations filed against it than any other nation in Asia, despite it not having signed the ICSID Convention. As a result, in 2015 India released its Model BIT, which departed from its earlier models by significantly limiting the protections afforded to foreign investors. The Model BIT also includes important pro-environment provisions – in line with India’s general trend to protect its right to safeguard the environment in the context of investment arbitration. Yet these formal protections do not necessarily reflect India’s domestic approach to environmental needs, nor do they recognize the country’s relationship with foreign investment. This chapter examines this predicament and explores ways in which India is having to balance the environment, economic development and FDI when negotiating and enforcing its bilateral investment treaties.
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