Colloquium on Policy, Law, Contracts and Sustainable Investments

In March 2014, the Institute for Human Rights and Business and the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment co-convened a Colloquium on Policy, Law, Contracts, and Sustainable Investments.

The Colloquium focused on mapping out efforts to embed sustainability and human rights in extractives and large-scale agricultural and land deals, with a particular focus on what is being negotiated and included in contracts.

Participants discussed:

• the kinds of provisions that are being asked for or offered and included, or that are explicitly avoided in extractive, agricultural, or other land contracts;
• how in practice such provisions are applied and implemented;
• the kinds of policies, laws and regulations available or needed to obviate the use of some of the ad hoc provisions; and
• the balance between contractual provisions and policies, laws, and regulations.

This Colloquium also provided the opportunity to assess the current gaps in efforts to embed sustainability and human rights in extractives / agricultural / other land deals, and to brainstorm on what needs remain unfulfilled.