A Model Multilateral Treaty for the Encouragement of Investment in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

The Paris Agreement sets out to limit global warming to below 2 degrees C, yet the pathway to reach that goal is unclear. This specifically applies to the mobilization of investment for climate change mitigation and adaptation. One way to mobilize foreign investments is to create a favourable investment climate with the help of multilateral investment treaties. In this article, a model treaty is proposed to considerably increase climate-friendly investments while maintaining regulatory flexibility for signatory states. Building on Design Thinking principles, key challenges for the success of such a treaty are identified and provisions are crafted incorporating feedback from twenty-five experts from finance, policy, and legal domains. The proposal addresses four key challenges: (1) define climate change mitigation and adaptation investments; (2) decrease the barrier of limited access to capital due to perceived and actual risks; (3) combat insufficient investor trust in long-term contracts; and (4) retain states' ability to regulate. The treaty proposal addresses these challenges by proposing, inter alia, a definition for mitigation and adaptation investments that establishes a link to the Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement, an innovative financing mechanism, a conversion of host country subsidies to investment grants, and a performance verification using latest distributed ledger technology.