{"id":32550,"date":"2026-03-19T13:51:52","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T17:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/gdp\/?p=32550"},"modified":"2026-04-06T14:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T18:49:08","slug":"isds-letter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/gdp\/2026\/03\/19\/isds-letter\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter from 220 Economists and Legal Scholars to Colombian President Gustavo Petro Calling for Action on ISDS"},"content":{"rendered":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/gdp\/2026\/03\/20\/carta-de-220-economistas-y-juristas-al-presidente-de-colombia-gustavo-petro-instando-a-tomar-medidas-sobre-el-arbitraje-de-inversion\/\" class=\"button\">En Espa\u00f1ol Aqu\u00ed<\/a>\n<p>&#8220;Dear President Gustavo Petro Urrego,<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">We write to you as economists and legal scholars deeply concerned that investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) poses a serious obstacle to building prosperous, equitable, and sustainable societies. As Colombia prepares to co-host the First International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta from April 24-29, where discussions on ISDS will take the center stage, we urge you to seize the moment by giving effect to your decision to begin removing Colombia from ISDS,<a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\"><span>[1]<\/span><\/a> and launching a broader alliance of countries committed to unwinding ISDS.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Written into thousands of international trade and investment treaties, including 18 agreements signed by Colombia, ISDS allows foreign corporations to bypass domestic courts and bring legal claims against host governments before special international arbitration tribunals that routinely award vast sums for alleged harms to their investments. ISDS is asymmetrical by design, granting foreign investors expansive protections that are unavailable to domestic businesses or citizens of the host country.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">While proponents argue ISDS can protect investors from unfair treatment, in practice it has become a tool through which corporations can challenge non-discriminatory public policies on the basis that they affect corporate profitability, rather than because they discriminate against investors. This dynamic raises significant concerns about states\u2019 ability to regulate freely in the public interest, including in the context of climate action.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The International Court of Justice has affirmed that states have an obligation, based on multiple sources of international law, to address climate change.<a href=\"#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref2\"><span>[2]<\/span><\/a> However, when governments take reasonable steps to address climate change \u2013 such as implementing fossil fuel phase-out measures \u2013 they have repeatedly been targeted by ISDS claims. For instance, your conference co-host, the Netherlands, is facing cases from ExxonMobil and Shell for closing the Groningen gas field.<a href=\"#_ftn3\" name=\"_ftnref3\"><span>[3]<\/span><\/a> For a country like Colombia, the risk is concrete. Under your leadership, the government has halted new fossil fuel exploration contracts and advanced an ambitious energy transition agenda<a href=\"#_ftn4\">[4]<\/a>. Yet, Colombia has 129 oil and gas projects that are covered by ISDS provisions, exposing the country to claims in the billions of dollars.<a href=\"#_ftn5\" name=\"_ftnref4\"><span>[5]<\/span><\/a> As a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment warned, ISDS operates as a system for \u201cpaying polluters,\u201d effectively requiring states to compensate corporations for complying with climate policies.<a href=\"#_ftn6\" name=\"_ftnref5\"><span>[6]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">ISDS has long been justified as necessary to attract foreign investment and thereby promote economic development. However, empirical evidence does not support any meaningful connection between ISDS commitments and increased investment inflows.<a href=\"#_ftn7\" name=\"_ftnref6\"><span>[7]<\/span><\/a> Brazil, South America\u2019s largest recipient of foreign investment, has eschewed ISDS.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Colombia has a rare opportunity to scale back ISDS and ensure that it does not stand in the way of its transition away from fossil fuels \u2013 and it would not be charting this course alone. Across the world, governments are reassessing investment treaties and stepping back from ISDS. Countries such as South Africa, India, Indonesia, Ecuador, and Bolivia have terminated ISDS-enforced agreements after determining that they were not in their national interests. Even Global North countries that initially pushed ISDS in countless trade and investment agreements have been moving away from the regime. In North America, for example, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement eliminated ISDS between the United States and Canada and significantly narrowed it in relation to Mexico. Within the European Union, member states have terminated their mutual investment treaties, with nearly half also withdrawing from the Energy Charter Treaty, the largest multilateral agreement with ISDS, over concerns about its protection of fossil fuel investments.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Because ISDS is mostly treaty-based, durable reform cannot be purely unilateral. It requires coordination among states that recognize the structural contradiction between expansive investor protections and the rapid decarbonization demanded by science and international law. The Santa Marta conference provides a unique platform to initiate such coordination. By coupling Colombia\u2019s domestic review of ISDS with an invitation to other governments to explore collective disengagement, you could help catalyze a coalition of countries working towards a world free of ISDS.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">We urge you to use Colombia\u2019s historic hosting of the First International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels as an opportunity to initiate steps toward withdrawing from ISDS and to galvanize coordinated international action, leaving a lasting legacy for others to follow.<\/p>\n<p>Sincerely,<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"p-pdf_iframe__page\" aria-label=\"Page 6\" data-page-number=\"6\">\n<div class=\"textLayer\" data-main-rotation=\"0\">\n<p><strong>Joseph Stiglitz<\/strong>, Professor, Columbia University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ha-Joon Chang<\/strong>, Professor, SOAS University of London<\/p>\n<p><strong>Thomas Piketty<\/strong>, Professor at the \u00a0School of Economics and Co-Director of the World Inequality Lab<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jos\u00e9 Antonio Ocampo<\/strong>, Professor, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jayati Ghosh<\/strong>, Professor, Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts at Amherst<\/p>\n<p><strong>David Boyd<\/strong>, Former UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and environment<\/p>\n<p><strong>M.Sornarajah<\/strong>, Emeritus Professor of Law, National University of Singapore<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jomo Kwame Sundaram<\/strong>, Emeritus Professor, University of Malaya<\/p>\n<p><strong>Laurence Tubiana<\/strong>, Dean of the Paris Climate School, Sciences Po<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kevin Gallagher<\/strong>, Director, Boston University Global Development Policy Center<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mark Weisbrot<\/strong>, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research<\/p>\n<p><strong>Eileen Appelbaum<\/strong>, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research<\/p>\n<p><strong>Andres Arauz<\/strong>, Center for Economic and Policy Research<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mart\u00edn Guzm\u00e1n<\/strong>, Professor, Columbia University School for International and Public Affairs<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rob Davies<\/strong>, Former Minister of Trade and Industry, South Africa<\/p>\n<p><strong>Isabella Weber<\/strong>, Professor, Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst<\/p>\n<p><strong>Philip Alston<\/strong>, Professor of Law, New York University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jonathan Bonnitcha<\/strong>, Associate Professor, University of New South Wales<\/p>\n<p><strong>Juan Camilo C\u00e1rdenas<\/strong>, Professor, Department of Economics, Universidad de los Andes; Professor, Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Commissioner, Earth Commission<\/p>\n<p><strong>Robert H. Wade<\/strong>, London School of Economics<\/p>\n<p><strong>Richard Kozul-Wright<\/strong>, SOAS University of London<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rob Howse<\/strong>, New York University School of Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kyla Tienhaara<\/strong>, Associate Professor, School of Environmental Studies and Department of Global Development Studies, Queen&#8217;s University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mariana Mazzucato<\/strong>, Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value; Founding Director, Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP), University College London (UCL)<\/p>\n<p><strong>David Abraham<\/strong>, University of Miami School of Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>Carlos Lozano Acosta<\/strong>, Comisi\u00f3n Mundial de Derecho Ambiental de IUCN.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rafael Fernando Castro Alegr\u00eda<\/strong>, Profesor y Analista de Derecho Internacional y Relaciones Internacionales<\/p>\n<p><strong>Donatella Alessandrini<\/strong>, Loughborough Law, UK<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alessandra Arcuri<\/strong>, Professor International Economic Law, Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam<\/p>\n<p><strong>Michael Ash<\/strong>, Professor of Economics and Public Policy, University of Massachusetts Amherst<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harro van Asselt<\/strong>, Hatton Professor of Climate Law, University of Cambridge<\/p>\n<p><strong>Venkatesh Athreya<\/strong>, Adjunct Professor, Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, India<\/p>\n<p><strong>Brook K. Baker<\/strong>, Professor Emeritus Northeastern U. School of Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dean Baker<\/strong>, Center for Economic and Policy Research<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hendrik Van den Berg<\/strong>, University of Nebraska Lincoln and University of Massachusetts Amherst<\/p>\n<p><strong>G\u00fcnseli Berik<\/strong>, Professor Emerita, University of Utah, USA<\/p>\n<p><strong>Geoffrey Bertram<\/strong>, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sattwick Dey Biswas<\/strong>, Independent Researcher<\/p>\n<p><strong>Beryl Blaustone<\/strong>, Professor of Law Emerita, CUNY School of Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>Robert Blecker<\/strong>, American University (Emeritus)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Peter Bohmer<\/strong>, faculty, Emeritus in Economics and Political Economy, The Evergreen State College<\/p>\n<p><strong>Roger Even Bove<\/strong>, West Chester University (Retired)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Juan Carlos Moreno Brid<\/strong>, UNAM<\/p>\n<p><strong>Robin Broad<\/strong>, Research Professor, American University,<\/p>\n<p><strong>Julia Calvert<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Jim Campen,<\/strong> Professor of Economics, Emeritus, University of Massachusetts Boston<\/p>\n<p><strong>Liam Campling<\/strong>, Queen Mary University of London<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sara Chandler KC(Hon)<\/strong>, Human Rights Commission, European Bars Federation<\/p>\n<p><strong>C P Chandrasekhar<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Kenneth Chay<\/strong>, Professor of Economics<\/p>\n<p><strong>Anuradha Chenoy<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Carol Chomsky<\/strong>, University of Minnesota Law School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cyra Akila Choudhury<\/strong>, FIU College of Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>Felipe Ford Cole<\/strong>, Boston College Law School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lara Montesinos Coleman<\/strong>, Professor of International Law, Ethics and Political Economy, University of Sussex<\/p>\n<p><strong>Madison Condon<\/strong>, Associate Professor, Boston University School of Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>Christophe Courchesne<\/strong>, Associate Professor of Law, Vermont Law and Graduate School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Anthony P. D&#8217;Costa<\/strong>, University of Melbourne<\/p>\n<p><strong>Omar S. Dahi<\/strong>, Hampshire College<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dan Danielsen<\/strong>, Northeastern University School of Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>Byasdeb Dasgupta<\/strong>, Institute of Development Studies Kolkata (IDSK)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steven Dean<\/strong>, Boston University School of Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>George DeMartino<\/strong>, University of Denver<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stephen Diamond<\/strong>, School of Law, Santa Clara University<\/p>\n<p><strong>David M. Driesen<\/strong>, Emeritus Professor, Syracuse University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Michael C. Duff<\/strong>, Professor of Law and Director, Wefel Center of Employment Law, Saint Louis University School of Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>Amitava Dutt<\/strong>, University of Notre Dame, Professor Emeritus<\/p>\n<p><strong>John Echeverria<\/strong>, Vermont Law and Graduate School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Christina Eckes<\/strong>, University of Amsterdam<\/p>\n<p><strong>William A. Edmundson<\/strong>, Regents&#8217; Professor Emeritus, Georgia State University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Diane Elson<\/strong>, Emeritus Professor University of Essex<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gerald Epstein<\/strong>, University of Massachusetts Amherst<\/p>\n<p><strong>Eduardo Garz\u00f3n Espinosa<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Mads Falkenfleth<\/strong>, CEO of WELA<\/p>\n<p><strong>Eric M. Fink<\/strong>, Elon University School of Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kade Finnoff<\/strong>, Azim Premji University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Maria Floro<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Nancy Folbre<\/strong>, University of Massachusetts Amherst<\/p>\n<p><strong>Andrew Foster<\/strong>, Duke Law School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Smitha Francis<\/strong>, Independent Researcher<\/p>\n<p><strong>Anders Fremstad<\/strong>, Economics Department, Colorado State University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sakiko Fukuda-Parr<\/strong>, Professor of International Affairs, New School for Social Research<\/p>\n<p><strong>Claiton Fyock<\/strong>, University of Essex Law School<\/p>\n<p><strong>John Luke Gallup<\/strong>, Portland State University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Frank J. Garcia<\/strong>, Boston College Law School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Luciana Ghiotto<\/strong>, CONICET\/UNSAM\/TNI<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jean-Marc Gollier<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Carmen G. Gonzalez<\/strong>, Loyola University Chicago School of Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>Neva Goodwin<\/strong>, Boston University Economics in Context<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jennifer M. Green<\/strong>, Clinical Professor of Law, University of Minneosta<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daphne T Greenwood<\/strong>, Professor Emerita, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs<\/p>\n<p><strong>David Singh Grewal<\/strong>, Professor of Law, UC Berkeley<\/p>\n<p><strong>Joyeeta Gupta<\/strong>, Professor Environment and Development in the Global South, University of Amsterdam<\/p>\n<p><strong>Teresina Gutierrez-Haces<\/strong>, Research Professor,\u00a0 Instituto de Investigaciones Econ\u00f3micas, UNAM, M\u00e9xico<\/p>\n<p><strong>Michael Hamersky<\/strong>, Pace Energy and Climate Center<\/p>\n<p><strong>Martin Hart-Landsberg<\/strong>, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Lewis &amp; Clark College<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jostein Hauge<\/strong>, University of Cambridge<\/p>\n<p><strong>Benton Heath<\/strong>, Temple University School of Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>James Heintz<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ralf Hepp<\/strong>, Fordham University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mario R. Osorio Hernandez<\/strong>, Senior Fellow, Georgetown Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bill Ong Hing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Cynthia Ho<\/strong>, Loyola U. Chicago School of Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>Karyn Hollis<\/strong>, Villanova University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Todd Howland<\/strong>, Vermont Law and Graduate School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Michael Hudson<\/strong>, Emeritus Professor of Economics, UMKC<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chaumtoli Huq<\/strong>, CUNY School of Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tim Iglesias<\/strong>, University of San Francisco<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr Gilad Isaacs<\/strong>, Executive Director, Institute for Economic Justice<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel Rangel Jurado<\/strong>, Rethink Trade<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fadhel Kaboub<\/strong>, Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity<\/p>\n<p><strong>James L. Kainen<\/strong>, Fordham University School of Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jane Kelsey<\/strong>, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Law, University of Auckland, New Zealand<\/p>\n<p><strong>Farida Chowdhury Khan<\/strong>, Professor of Economics, University of Colorado Colorado Springs<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mary King<\/strong>, Professor of Economics Emerita, Portland State University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Susan P. Koniak<\/strong>, Professor of Law Emerita<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jeanne Koopman<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Laurence Kotlikoff<\/strong>, Professor of Economics, Boston University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Markus Krajewski<\/strong>, University of Erlangen-N\u00fcrnberg<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vincent Letellier<\/strong>, Ma\u00eetre de conf\u00e9rences \u00e0 l&#8217;Universit\u00e9 libre de Bruxelles<\/p>\n<p><strong>David S. Levine<\/strong>, Elon University School of Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ariana Levinson<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Juan Camilo Sarmiento Lobo<\/strong>, Grupo de Trabajo Lex Mercatoria, poder corporativo y derechos humanos CLACSO<\/p>\n<p><strong>Arthur MacEwan<\/strong>, University of Massachusetts Boston<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tayyab Mahmud<\/strong>, Seattle University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Marisol Manfredi<\/strong>, University of Pisa<\/p>\n<p><strong>George de Martino<\/strong>, University of Denver<\/p>\n<p><strong>Thomas Masterson<\/strong>, Levy Economics Institute of Bard College<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alfred Dennis Mathewson<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Carlos S\u00e1nchez Mato<\/strong>, Profesor econom\u00eda aplicada Universidad Complutense de Madrid<\/p>\n<p><strong>Julie Matthaei<\/strong>, Wellesley College<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kathleen McAfee<\/strong>, Prof of law emeritus, New York Law School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ladan Mehranvar<\/strong>, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment<\/p>\n<p><strong>Martin Melkonian<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Pablo Fajardo Mendoza<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Carlin Meyer<\/strong>, Prof. Emerita, New York Law School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Marcelo Milan<\/strong>, Federal University of ABC, Brazil<\/p>\n<p><strong>John Miller<\/strong>, Professor of Economics Emeritus, Wheaton College<\/p>\n<p><strong>Oliver Morrissey<\/strong>, Professor of Development Economics, University of Nottingham<\/p>\n<p><strong>Federico Guti\u00e9rrez Naranjo<\/strong>, Universidad de Uppsala<\/p>\n<p><strong>Usha Natarajan<\/strong>, The University of the West Indies<\/p>\n<p><strong>Terrence Neal<\/strong>, Vermont Law &amp; Graduate School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Julie Nelson<\/strong>, Emeritus Professor, Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts Boston<\/p>\n<p><strong>Peter Newell<\/strong>, Professor of International Relations, University of Sussex<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stephen Newman<\/strong>, Professor of Law Emeritus, New York Law School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Eva Paus<\/strong>, Mount Holyoke College, USA<\/p>\n<p><strong>Joergen Lindgaard Pedersen<\/strong>, DTU<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lorenzo Pellegrini<\/strong>, Professor, Erasmus University Rotterdam<\/p>\n<p><strong>Francisco Perez<\/strong>, University of Utah<\/p>\n<p><strong>Nicol\u00e1s M Perrone<\/strong>, Professor, Universidad de Valpara\u00edso<\/p>\n<p><strong>Peter Philips<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Alberto Arroyo Picard<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Zygmunt Jan Bro\u00ebl Plater<\/strong>, University of Maine School of Law; Boston College Law [ret.]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Willemien du Plessis<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Robert Pollin<\/strong>, University of Massachusetts Amherst<\/p>\n<p><strong>James Gray Pope<\/strong>, Rutgers Law School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stefano Prato<\/strong>, Society for International Development<\/p>\n<p><strong>Enrique Prieto-Rios<\/strong>, Profesor Facultad de Jurisprudencia Universidad del Rosario<\/p>\n<p><strong>Srividhya Ragavan<\/strong>, Professor of Law, Texas A&amp;M University School of Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ali Raiss-Tousi<\/strong>, Anglia Ruskin University, London<\/p>\n<p><strong>Aziz Rana<\/strong>, J. Donald Monan, S.J., University Professor of Law and Government, Boston College<\/p>\n<p><strong>K S Chalapati Rao<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Jacob Rask<\/strong>, Roskilde University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rebecca Ray<\/strong>, Boston University Global Development Policy Center<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tahim\u00ed Su\u00e1rez Rodr\u00edguez<\/strong>, Jurista<\/p>\n<p><strong>Malcolm Rogge<\/strong>, University of Exeter Law School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Naomi Roht-Arriaza<\/strong>, Distinguished Professor (emerita), University of California Law, San Francisco<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sonia E. Rolland<\/strong>, Northeastern University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jon Romberg<\/strong>, Associate Professor, Seton Hall University School of Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bill Rosenberg<\/strong>, Economist, Visiting Scholar, Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka, New Zealand<\/p>\n<p><strong>Henning Grosse Ruse-Khan<\/strong>, Professor of Law, University of Cambridge<\/p>\n<p><strong>Michael Rustad<\/strong>, Suffolk University Law School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lea Di Salvatore<\/strong>, the Center for Climate Change, Energy and Environmental law, the University of Eastern Finland<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alvaro Santos<\/strong>, Georgetown Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>Andr\u00e1s Schiffer<\/strong>, advocat, former MP (Hungary)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ted P Schmidt<\/strong>, Professor Emeritus, Buffalo State University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stephanie Seguino<\/strong>, University of Vermont<\/p>\n<p><strong>Theodore Seto<\/strong>, LMU Loyola Law School<\/p>\n<p><strong>James Silk<\/strong>, Clinical Professor Emeritus of Human Rights, Yale Law School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Penelope Simons<\/strong>, Professor, Faculty of Common Law and Director, Human Rights Research and Education Centre, University of Ottawa<\/p>\n<p><strong>Peter Skott<\/strong>, University and Massachusetts Amherst<\/p>\n<p><strong>Abbe Smith<\/strong>, Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Law, Georgetown University<\/p>\n<p><strong>William Snape<\/strong>, Professor and Assistant Dean, American University, Washington College of Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mark Squillace<\/strong>, University of Colorado Law School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Irene van Staveren<\/strong>, professor of economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rena Steinzor<\/strong>, Emerita Professor, University of Maryland Law School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Juliet P. Stumpf<\/strong>, Lewis &amp; Clark Law School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rafael Tamayo, <\/strong>Profesor Facultad de Jurisprudencia Universidad del Rosario<\/p>\n<p><strong>Zephyr Teachout<\/strong>, Fordham Law School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rachel D. Thrasher<\/strong>, Boston University Global Development Policy Center<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chris Tilly<\/strong>, University of California Los Angeles<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel Titelman<\/strong>, Non Resident Senior Fellow, Global Development Policy Center<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mariano Treacy<\/strong>, CONICET-UNGS<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stephanie Triefus<\/strong>, Asser Institute<\/p>\n<p><strong>Silke Trommer<\/strong>, University of Manchester<\/p>\n<p><strong>Oscar Ugarteche, <\/strong>UNAM<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vamsi Vakulabharanam<\/strong>, Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tara Van Ho<\/strong>, St. Mary&#8217;s University (TX)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pablo A. de la Vega M.<\/strong>, Centro de Documentaci\u00f3n en Derechos Humanos &#8220;Segundo Montes Mozo SJ&#8221; (CSMM)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Marco A. Vel\u00e1squez-Ruiz<\/strong>, Academic and Consultant<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tara Van Ho<\/strong>, St. Mary&#8217;s University (TX)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ingo Venzke<\/strong>, Professor, University of Amsterdam<\/p>\n<p><strong>Matias Vernengo<\/strong>, Bucknell University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Liza Vertinsky<\/strong>, Professor of Law, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law<\/p>\n<p><strong>Magdalena Bas Vilizzio<\/strong>, Universidad de la Rep\u00fablica, Uruguay<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alejandro Villamar<\/strong>, Red Mexicana de Acci\u00f3n frente al Libre Comercio (RMALC),<\/p>\n<p><strong>Federica Violi<\/strong>, Erasmus University Rotterdam<\/p>\n<p><strong>Joan Vogel<\/strong>, Professor Emerita, Vermont Law and Graduate School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Norman Waitzman<\/strong>, Professor, Economics, University of Utah<\/p>\n<p><strong>David Whyte<\/strong>, Queen Mary University of London<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sue Willman KC (hon)<\/strong>, Senior Lecturer, King&#8217;s Legal Clinic, King&#8217;s College, London<\/p>\n<p><strong>John Willoughby<\/strong>, Professor, Economics, American University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lucas Wilson<\/strong>, Economics, Mount Holyoke<\/p>\n<p><strong>Peter Winship<\/strong>, professor emeritus, SMU<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chris Wold<\/strong>, Professor of Law, Lewis &amp; Clark Law School<\/p>\n<p><strong>Martin H Wolfson<\/strong>, University of Notre Dame<\/p>\n<p><strong>John Womack<\/strong>, Harvard University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Brenda Wyss<\/strong>, Wheaton College Massachusetts<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alicia Ely Yamin<\/strong>, Harvard University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Anil Yilmaz Vastardis<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Tai Young-Taft<\/strong>, Levy Economics Institute of Bard College<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gonzalo Fern\u00e1ndez Ortiz de Z\u00e1rate<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Juan Hern\u00e1ndez Zubizarreta<\/strong>, Profesor de la Universidad del Pa\u00eds Vasco<\/p>\n<p>*<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"p-pdf_iframe__page\" aria-label=\"Page 6\" data-page-number=\"6\">\n<div data-main-rotation=\"0\">\n<div class=\"p-pdf_iframe__page\" aria-label=\"Page 7\" data-page-number=\"7\">\n<div class=\"textLayer\" data-main-rotation=\"0\">\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\"><span>[1]<\/span><\/a> Colombia buscar\u00e1 renegociar los TLC con Estados Unidos y la Uni\u00f3n Europea en lo relacionado a laudos arbitrales. November 21, 2024,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.presidencia.gov.co\/prensa\/Paginas\/Colombia-buscara-renegociar-los-TLC-con-Estados-Unidos-y-la-Union-Europea-en-lo-relacionado-a-laudos-arbitrales-241121.aspx\"> https:\/\/www.presidencia.gov.co\/prensa\/Paginas\/Colombia-buscara-renegociar-los-TLC-con-Estados-Unidos-y-la-Union-Europea-en-lo-relacionado-a-laudos-arbitrales-241121.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" name=\"_ftn2\"><span>[2]<\/span><\/a> International Court of Justice. <em>Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change<\/em>. Advisory Opinion, General List No. 187, 23 July 2025.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.icj-cij.org\/sites\/default\/files\/case-related\/187\/187-20250723-adv-01-00-en.pdf\"> https:\/\/www.icj-cij.org\/sites\/default\/files\/case-related\/187\/187-20250723-adv-01-00-en.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref3\" name=\"_ftn3\"><span>[3]<\/span><\/a> ExxonMobil Petroleum &amp; Chemical BV v. Kingdom of the Netherlands, ICSID Case No. ARB\/24\/44; Shell PLC v. Kingdom of the Netherlands, ICSID Case No. ARB\/26\/2<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref4\">[4]<\/a> Luke Taylor, &#8220;Colombia announces halt on fossil fuel exploration for a greener economy,&#8221; <i>The Guardian<\/i>, (Jan 23, 2023)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref5\" name=\"_ftn4\"><span>[5]<\/span><\/a> Hirschel-Burns, Tim, Rachel Thrasher, and Fiorella Paredes. 2025. \u201cDefunding the Amazon. Mapping ISDS Risk From The Oil and Gas Sector in Amazonian Countries.\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/gdp\/files\/2025\/11\/GEGI-PB-032-FIN.pdf\"> https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/gdp\/files\/2025\/11\/GEGI-PB-032-FIN.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref6\" name=\"_ftn5\"><span>[6]<\/span><\/a> David R. Boyd, Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. 2023. \u201cA\/78\/168 Paying polluters: the catastrophic consequences of investor-State dispute settlement for climate and environment action and human rights.\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/documents\/thematic-reports\/a78168-paying-polluters-catastrophic-consequences-investor-state-dispute\"> https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/documents\/thematic-reports\/a78168-paying-polluters-catastrophic-consequences-investor-state-dispute<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"p-pdf_iframe__page\" aria-label=\"Page 6\" data-page-number=\"6\">\n<div data-main-rotation=\"0\">\n<div class=\"p-pdf_iframe__page\" aria-label=\"Page 7\" data-page-number=\"7\">\n<div class=\"textLayer\" data-main-rotation=\"0\">\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref7\" name=\"_ftn6\"><span>[7]<\/span><\/a> Brada, Josef C., Zdenek Drabek, and Ichiro Iwasaki. 2020. \u201cDoes Investor Protection Increase Foreign Direct Investment? A Meta-Analysis.\u201d <em>Journal of Economic Surveys<\/em> 35(1): 34-70.<a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1111\/joes.12392\"> https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1111\/joes.12392<\/a>. <em>See also<\/em> Pohl, Joachim. 2018. \u201cSocietal benefits and costs of International Investment Agreements: A critical review of aspects and available empirical evidence,\u201d <em>OECD Working Papers on International Investment<\/em>.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.oecd-ilibrary.org\/finance-and-investment\/societal-benefits-and-costs-of-international-investment-agreements_e5f85c3d-en\"> https:\/\/www.oecd-ilibrary.org\/finance-and-investment\/societal-benefits-and-costs-of-international-investment-agreements_e5f85c3d-en<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Dear President Gustavo Petro Urrego, We write to you as economists and legal scholars deeply concerned that investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) poses a serious obstacle to building prosperous, equitable, and sustainable societies. As Colombia prepares to co-host the First International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta from April 24-29, where discussions [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25745,"featured_media":32575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[65,156,77,144,61],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/gdp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32550"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/gdp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/gdp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/gdp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25745"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/gdp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32550"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/gdp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32674,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/gdp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32550\/revisions\/32674"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/gdp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/gdp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/gdp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/gdp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}