Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of investor state dispute settlements on a country's ability to invest in its Sustainable Development Goals.

The UK is party to 81 Bilateral Investment Treaties and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership that contain Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS).

ISDS provides an independent means to resolve disputes with states where investors believe they have experienced arbitrary, discriminatory or unfair treatment or expropriation without compensation. ISDS does not remove governments’ right to regulate in the public interest, including with respect to implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.