The Energy Transition set to change Rules of Foreign Investment

1 Raphael Heffron

Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy - Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy - University of Dundee, UK

Abstract

There is a perfect storm of events happening in international commerce that is changing the rules of the game for foreign investment. Issues for example, such as taxation, transparency, disclosure, ethics, risk and accountability are forcing change to how investment decisions are made. This myriad of factors is resulting already in ensuring foreign investment will no longer have the same protection that it has had in the past. A key driver in all this change is the energy transition that has resulted in transforming one of society’s key and most influential sectors in the economy. Energy investment accounts for a significant share of international investment. In this paper, investment cases are assessed in accordance with theory in international and energy law. These cases and rules of international commerce are explored and these highlight that there is a rise of issues being considered such as impact on human rights, the environment, sustainability and climate change. As a result, the paper demonstrates how the direction of investment is set to change in light of energy and general commercial practice. This will mean countries have to be more creative to attract foreign investment and establish new rules for investment security at a national level rather a reliance on current international system.

Keywords

"energy", "taxation", "foreign investment", "arbitration", "international agreements"