增進環境法原則適用於投資條約仲裁之可能性與局限性

Abstract

隨著全球外商直接投資 (FDI) 的快速增長和發展，國際投資協定 (IIAs) 裡所提供的投資人與地主國間爭議解決機制 (ISDS) 也成為最常被外國投資者使用之工具。投資仲裁在解決地主國與外國投資者之間的爭端中發揮著至關重要的作用。 一開始，ISDS機制的核心要素是在於保護跨國投資者的利益免受地主國的任意徵收和不平等的待遇。然而，隨著環境惡化和氣候變遷的問題越來越明顯和棘手，國際投資協定亦納入了許多環境保護條款和政策，以規制外國投資活動與環境之間的關係。投資仲裁中有關環境糾紛的案件數量也隨之增長而者也表明環境議題在投資仲裁中越受矚目。 然而，現有的國際投資協定條款在環境相關規範較模糊，地主國也面對仲裁敗訴之威脅，仲裁庭面對環境議題的態度，計算賠償的方法等議題恐怕將造成地主國政府在實施環境保護措施時的寒蟬效應。相關的寒蟬效應在案例中也是顯而易見的。由此可見，在環境相關的投資糾紛中考慮提升環境法原則的應用有助於解決上述問題。 鑑於上述，本論文認為提升環境法原則在投資仲裁之使用可以更好地保護地主國在實施環境保護政策的自主權以及更有效率地實現永續發展目標。因此，本文將探討環境法原則在投資仲裁中的重要性和必要性，並評估提升其應用的可能性和局限性。

With the rapid growth and development of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in global, the use of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism in International Investment Agreements (IIAs) by foreign investors also proliferate. The role of Investment Treaty Arbitration becomes vital in resolving disputes between the host state and foreign investors. Traditionally, ISDS mechanism was developed to protect the interest of foreign investors from the host state’s arbitrary expropriation and discriminatory treatment. However, due to the deterioration of the environment and the wake-up call to climate action, environmental protection policy comes under IIAs to govern the relationship between foreign investment activities and the environment. The increasing number of environmental disputes in investment arbitration also indicates that the environmental discussion in investment treaty arbitration is getting popular. Nevertheless, there are growing concerns that the ambiguities in IIAs, the threat of arbitration, reluctance of the tribunal to engage in environmental discussion, approaches taken by the tribunal to calculate compensation and etcetera may lead to the regulatory chill effect as evident from case studies. It follows that the consideration of environmental law principles in environment-related investment disputes could help resolve the preceding issues. In view thereof, this paper argued the enhanced application of environmental law principles in investment treaty arbitration could better protect the host state’s environmental regulatory autonomy as well as achieve sustainable development objectives effectively. Therefore, this paper will examine the importance and necessity of environmental law principles in investment arbitration, and assess the limitations and possibilities of increasing consideration of environmental law principles in investment arbitration.