Asymmetrical Approaches to Environmental Regulation in the Caribbean: A Critique of the Region's Foreign Investment Landscape.

This article argues that although, as a matter of principle, environmental protection has been embraced by Caribbean states as a key pillar of their ongoing efforts to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, their existing international investment landscape is simply not fit for this purpose. Through a critical analysis of extant International Investment Agreements (IIAs), National Investment Laws and related practices, this article argues that environmental protection remains an issue of little strategic importance for the Caribbean region, at least when compared to their herculean efforts to attract and retain foreign direct investment. It uses the Peter Allard v Barbados decision to illustrate the multifarious challenges of balancing investment protection on one hand, and environmental protection, on the other hand, and argues for a more robust approach to environmental protection, having regard to recent ICSID cases, such as Cortec v Kenya, as well as recent investment treaty practice, such as Guyana's Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) with Brazil, which contains express provisions on environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]