The EU is the undisputed global leader in climate change, aiming to achieve a decarbonised economy by 2050. The EU is also a leader in other policy areas supporting climate change responses, in particular: CSR, investment in renewables and international investment regulation reform. Domestically, the EU has been extensively promoting CSR as a tool of environmental sustainability. Bilaterally, it has been promoting global sustainability agenda by including Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapters in the free trade agreements it negotiates with third countries. Multilaterally, the EU has been active in the global reform of international investment regime, especially in proposing a Multilateral Investment Court (MIC) for the settlement of investment disputes which should replace the controversial Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). But how can these policies be more coherently designed and integrated to reach their full potential in helping not only the EU but the rest of the globe to achieve Paris Agreement objectives? Furthermore, as a global leader, how can the EU engage more effectively with different policy environments in projecting these policies through foreign trade and investment instruments? And what are the lessons that can benefit the ongoing EUAusFTA? These are the research questions at the core of this project.

The project aims at drawing together domestic public (climate change and investment in renewables) and private (CSR) policy tools with international public and private instruments (international trade and investment law) to support the achievement of the Paris Agreement. Given the differences in climate change responses, the forthcoming EUAusFTA provides an ideal framework for the implementation of more coherent climate change policy instruments, first in the bilateral and then also more global trade and investment context.

Contact: Dr Ivana Damjanovic: Ivana.Damjanovic@anu.edu.au