The Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI), a joint center of Columbia Law School and Columbia Climate School at Columbia University, works to strengthen the sustainable development potential of international investment, and to ensure that international investment is mutually beneficial for investors and the citizens of recipient countries. We envision a world in which international investment contributes to, and does not undermine, sustainable development.
We develop and disseminate practical approaches to maximize the benefits of international investment for sustainable development—and to minimize its harms—by conducting rigorous research, providing policy analysis and advisory services, offering educational programs, developing tools and resources, and fostering multi-stakeholder dialogue and knowledge-sharing.
We integrate legal, economic, and policy expertise, and approach sustainable investment holistically, bridging diverse disciplines, including investment law, natural resource management, human rights law, economics, political economy, finance, and climate change policy. One of our great strengths lies in having knowledgeable perspective across the range of stakeholders, tools, policies, and practices that shape investment flows and outcomes. This allows us to work across communities of practice and with different stakeholder groups, and to provide insight and solutions at the intersections of these often-siloed areas relevant to sustainable investment.
Members:
Resources
Displaying 1 - 5 of 41Guidance for national and local governments
Countries face severe local and global climate risks with grave social, economic, and environmental costs. Given a significant portion of global emissions are a result of agriculture, forestry, and other land-based investments, governments can mitigate climate risks by ensuring these investments contribute to, rather than undermine, national and global climate goals.
Respecting the human rights of communities: a legal risk primer for commercial wind and solar project deployment
This legal risk primer provides the general counsels and corporate legal teams of commercial wind and solar companies with an overview of the key legal risks that may arise from the above community-related human rights impacts. It is a companion to CCSI's business guide on the same topic.
Respecting the human rights of communities: a business guide for commercial wind and solar project deployment
This guide provides companies involved in wind and solar projects with information and strategies to identify, prevent, mitigate, and account for adverse human rights impacts that they cause, contribute to, or are directly linked to through their operations, products, or services, by virtue of their business relationships. It may also be useful for investors, business partners, government actors, civil society organizations, communities, and other stakeholders.
Primer on International Investment Treaties and Investor-State Dispute Settlement
This primer gives an accessible overview of key aspects surrounding International Investment Treaties and Investor-State Dispute Settlement, and the implications for promoting a rights-based approach to governance.
Getting From Ideas to Reality: Building Political Support to Translate Good Ideas Into Actual Practice
This document focuses on how government officials can improve the governance and practice of responsible land-based investment by building stronger political support.