The 'Social License to Operate': An Emerging Concept in the Practice of International Investment Tribunals

While international investment tribunals are making increasing reference to the social license to operate in their practice, this concept has not yet received adequate analysis from either practitioners or from scholars. This article seeks to redress this gap in the literature by providing an in-depth interdisciplinary analysis of this concept. Apart from showing that the social license to operate is a concept that may already be encountered in several fields of international law, this article argues that arbitrators may have to consider the social license to operate as part of the applicable law, which could have significant effects for international dispute settlement in general. Lastly, this contribution offers suggestions on how international investment tribunals could approach the social license to operate in the future.