Projects
Research + Human Rights & Development
Projects By Topic
- Contracts And Human Rights
- Environmental And Climate Change Risks And Impacts
- Fair And Competitive Fiscal Framework
- Infrastructure And Linkages
- Integrated Community Development And Human Rights
- International Investment Law And International Human Rights Law
- Land Contracts And Transparency In Land-Based Investment
- Land Investments, Human Rights, And International Law
- Land, Climate Change, And The Sustainable Development Goals
- Legal And Technical Support Gaps
- Long-term Planning And Revenue Management
- Multi-Stakeholder And Expert Dialogue
- Outcomes And Linkages Of Large-Scale Agriculture Investments
- Policy And Advisory Work
- Policy Level And Project Level: Human Rights Impacts Of Investment Projects
- Research
- Resources And Tools
- Sustainable Resource Based Development Strategy
- Teaching And Curriculum Development
- Transparent And Mutually Beneficial Legal Framework
- Understanding Land, Investment, And International Law
- Climate Change
- Coordinating Multi-Stakeholder And Expert Dialogue
- Extractive Industries
- Human Rights & Development
- Investment & Human Rights
- Investment Law And Policy
- Land And Agriculture
- Land/Extractives Nexus
Human Rights Law and the Investment Treaty Regime
In its current form, the international investment treaty regime may stymie the business and human rights agenda in various ways. This draft chapter, which will be published in the forthcoming Research Handbook on Human Rights and Business, provides an overview of the interaction between human rights law and the investment treaty regime and explores options for addressing the challenges that arise due to this interaction.
Community Development Requirements: Laws, Best Practices, and Community Development Agreements Database
CCSI has a growing portfolio of activities regarding community development requirements and community development agreements (CDAs) that includes: (i) mapping domestic legal requirements for community development in the context of mining projects; (ii) policy and research on best practices around CDAs and benefit sharing for extractive, agricultural, and forestry projects; and (iii) regularly maintained collection of publicly available community agreements relating to extractive, agricultural, and forestry projects.
Mapping the Renewable Energy Sector to the Sustainable Development Goals
Renewable energy is instrumental to the success of the SDGs. But, renewable energy projects have at times undermined the achievement of the SDGs and adversely affected human rights. Given the urgency and scale at which renewables must be deployed to meet the world’s climate goals, it is especially critical that we understand their potential impacts—both positive and negative—on each SDG, to ensure that renewable energy driven development does not come at the expense of other development goals.
Developing a Collaborative Approach to Human Rights Impact Assessments
CCSI, in partnership with the Sciences Po Law School Clinic and the Danish Institute for Human Rights, has developed a collaborative approach to human rights impact assessments (HRIAs) of private sector investment projects. Although HRIAs have become increasingly prominent in recent years, one specific challenge is the frequent lack of trust between communities and companies, which often extends to distrust of HRIAs that “the other side” has initiated. A collaborative approach to HRIAs provides an avenue to jointly undertake an HRIA that is considered credible by all sides and that helps to address the power imbalances that often exist between companies and communities around private sector projects.
Communities’ Redress for Harm Post-Closure, Abandonment, or Divestment
What are the implications for individuals’ or communities’ ability to obtain redress for harms after investors or lenders have pulled out of a project, or after a project has failed? In light of the continued pressure on investors and lenders to divest from problematic projects, as well as the number of land deals that have failed altogether, CCSI is working to examine the loopholes, gaps, and unenforceable elements in laws and policies regarding redress of harms to communities when investors or funders have left a project and to develop proposed solutions for improving redress options in those circumstances.
Integrating Consent and Consultation into Investment Contract Negotiations
CCSI is exploring how free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) and consultation processes can be integrated into investor-state contract negotiations, taking into account the practicalities of contract negotiations, to better safeguard the land rights and human rights of members of project-affected communities.
Amicus Raising Human Rights Arguments in Respect of Investor-State Disputes
CCSI submitted an application to file a written submission as an “other person” in Bear Creek Mining Corporation v. Republic of Peru. CCSI’s submission focused on a range of issues, including the implications of international human rights law for the interpretation and application of investment treaty standards.
Investment Arbitration and Human Rights
CCSI focuses on the intersection of international investment law and international human rights law, and the impacts of their application for the most vulnerable of rights-holders. Among other things, this includes a specific focus on investment arbitrations, and their implications for the realization of human rights.
Access to Justice
Among the critical issues that arise from the interaction of human rights and investment law is whether and how the relatively greater access to justice provided to aggrieved investors by the international investment regime undermines access to justice for other individuals and communities, including those affected by large-scale land-based investment.
Land Deal Dilemmas: Grievances, Human Rights, and Investor Protections
Dealing with land-based investments and the grievances that they raise can be difficult for host governments, who face a complicated landscape of legal obligations and pragmatic considerations. This project examines the different legal frameworks governing what governments can do to address and remedy land-related grievances after investment concessions have been awarded, with a specific focus on government obligations under international investment law and international human rights law.
Investor Protections and Human Rights Defenders
CCSI is analyzing how international investment agreements and investor-state dispute settlement can impact the rights of human rights defenders. This includes exploring whether the international investment law regime may exacerbate the repression and criminalization of human rights defenders in the context of investment projects.
Articulating a Rights-Based Argument for Land Contract Disclosure
In March 2017, CCSI presented a working paper titled “Articulating a Rights-Based Argument for Land Contract Disclosure” at the World Bank Land & Poverty Conference. The paper explores whether and how existing state obligations under human rights law require disclosure of land contracts and more transparent contracting processes around land investments.