International investment agreements define State commitments on investment protection, but also shed light on how these commitments are to be integrated with other public policy objectives. Investment protection in the context of environmental regulation has been a frequent source of controversy...

The North American Free Trade Agreement (‘NAFTA' or ‘the Agreement'), ratified in 1994, is the first free trade agreement to openly incorporate environmental provisions. Its ratification engendered a sustained debate on the effects of trade on environmental degradation that has hardly abated...