Investment Law and the Energy Transition: Promotion, Protection and Arbitration

Edited by: Kaj Hobér, Volker Roeben, Ylli Dautaj

ISBN: 9781032877327

Published: August 2026

Format: Hardcover

Language: English

Publisher: Routledge

Description

As the Paris Agreement's climate targets push economies toward renewable energy, foreign direct investment has become the engine of the transition — and international investment law the framework that has to keep pace. This edited collection, with a foreword and contributions from leading arbitrators and scholars including Kaj Hobér, Volker Roeben and Ylli Dautaj, examines how investment protection, environmental policy and investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) must work together to promote and safeguard renewable energy investment while advancing sustainability goals. It maps the legal and regulatory architecture of the energy transition, from treaty drafting and interpretation to the reform debates reshaping ISDS itself.

Key Features

• Analyses how investment treaties are being planned, drafted and interpreted specifically for energy transition disputes
• Reviews the "modernised" Energy Charter Treaty and its role as a bridge to future energy governance
• Surveys real case studies of energy transition arbitrations and the evolving jurisprudence around them

Coverage

Thirteen chapters trace the intersection of climate law, energy law and investment arbitration: the international legal and regulatory framework of climate change, the economics of the energy transition, climate litigation and human rights, the international energy architecture, treaty drafting and interpretation, critiques of ISDS and the arbitration community's response, reform proposals for aligning investment law with climate goals, ISDS procedural reform for energy transition disputes, the modernised Energy Charter Treaty, case studies of energy transition arbitrations, and the role of investment treaty arbitration in the global governance of energy investment.

About the Editors

Kaj Hobér is one of the world's most experienced investment treaty arbitrators, with a career spanning decades of energy and investment disputes. Volker Roeben is a professor specialising in international energy law and governance. Ylli Dautaj is a scholar and practitioner focused on investment arbitration and the Energy Charter Treaty. Together with contributors including George Bermann, Kabir Duggal and Ana Stanic, they bring both academic depth and arbitral practice experience to the volume.

Table of Contents

Foreword; 1. Investment Law and Energy Transition: Promotion, Protection and Arbitration (Hobér, Roeben, Dautaj); 2. The International Legal and Regulatory Framework of Climate Change (Kovacevic); 3. The Economics of Energy Transition (Farrahi); 4. Climate Litigation: Climate Change, Transition, and Human Rights (Alarcón); 5. The International Energy Architecture and Energy Transition (Roeben); 6. Planning and Drafting, and Interpreting Investment Treaties in the Era of Energy Transition (Sulejmanovic); 7. Critiques of ISDS and the Arbitration Community's Response (Bermann); 8. Reforming International Investment Law to Align with Climate Change (Duggal, Alvarez Calderón); 9. Reforming ISDS Procedure for Energy Transition Disputes (Brodlija); 10. The 'Modernised' Energy Charter Treaty (Dautaj, Chen); 11. Case Studies of Energy Transition Cases (Balcerzak); 12. The Role of Investment Treaty Arbitration in the Global Governance of Energy Investments (Stanic); 13. Trends in Energy Disputes (Hobér); Index.

Why buy this book?

Energy transition disputes are now a defining growth area in investment arbitration, and this is the first volume to treat the field as a coherent whole rather than a scattering of case notes. For a law library or arbitration practice building out its energy and investment holdings, it sits at the exact intersection practitioners are searching for right now.

Keywords

investment law, energy transition, investor-state dispute settlement, ISDS, Energy Charter Treaty, climate litigation, renewable energy investment, arbitration

Target Audience

Investment treaty lawyers, arbitrators, energy sector policymakers, environmental policymakers, academics in energy and investment law

Genre

International Investment Law, Climate Change, Arbitration

Q&A

What is investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) and why does it matter for the energy transition?
ISDS is the arbitration mechanism investors use to bring claims against states under investment treaties; this book examines how it is being tested and reformed by renewable energy disputes.

What is the "modernised" Energy Charter Treaty?
It is the reformed version of the ECT designed to align energy investment protection with climate policy goals, covered in depth in Chapter 10.

Does this book cover real energy transition arbitration cases?
Yes — Chapter 11 works through case studies of actual energy transition disputes and the jurisprudence they have produced.

Who edited this book?
Kaj Hobér, Volker Roeben and Ylli Dautaj, with contributions from arbitrators and scholars including George Bermann, Kabir Duggal and Ana Stanic.

Where can I buy Investment Law and the Energy Transition?
Directly from CLNZ Books, with worldwide delivery for university libraries, law firms and individual professionals.

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