In this lunchtime seminar, the UNSW CIBEL Centre will host Dr Chen YU (City University of Hong Kong). The session will be chaired by Professor Weihuan Zhou (CIBEL).
Abstract
Aligning international investment treaties with just energy transition goals is a pressing challenge in the ongoing reform of the investment regime. This article, through case studies of fossil fuel phase-out laws and renewable electricity subsidy schemes, highlights the inherent polycentricity and plurality of energy transition policies. It further argues that, to better accommodate these complexities while balancing investment protection with energy objectives, investment treaties should grant more deference to domestic laws on energy transition issues. It examines four potential channels through which such deference might be realized – namely domestic laws as the standard per se, domestic law as general exceptions, domestic law as the right to regulate, and compliance with domestic law as potential justifications – and critically assesses their implications for reforming investment treaties for a just energy transition.
About the speaker
Dr. Chen YU is an Assistant Professor at the City University of Hong Kong, School of Law. Her research interests include international investment and trade law, international arbitration, interdisciplinary and empirical research of law, and energy regulation. She has published in leading international law journals including the Journal of International Economic Law, World Trade Review, Journal of International Dispute Settlement, ICSID Review, Journal of World Investment & Trade, etc. Her monograph, Dispute Settlement and the Reform of International Investment Law: Legalization Through Adjudication, was published by Edward Elgar in 2023. She was the recipient of the 2022 David D. Caron Prize awarded by the American Society of International Law (ASIL) and currently serves on the Advisory Board of ASIL’s International Law & Social Science Interest Group.