Trainings

June 2019: Executive Trainings on Extractive Industries and Sustainable Development, Sustainable Investments in Agriculture, and Investment Treaties and Arbitration for Government Officials
We are accepting applications for our three upcoming executive trainings on: Extractive Industries and Sustainable Development (June 3–14, 2019), Sustainable Investments in Agriculture (June 11–21, 2019) and Investment Treaties and Arbitration for Government Officials (June 17–27, 2019). Each program is designed to equip participants with the necessary skills, analytical tools and frameworks to address relevant challenges and opportunities, and to encourage a rich dialogue about best practices from around the globe. More information about each training, including brochures and applications, is available at the links above. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Participants will receive a Statement of Attendance from Columbia University.

Alumni Profile: Marian Amissah-Ocran Harrison
In this month’s alumni profile, read about Marian Amissah-Ocran Harrison, a Women’s Empowerment Programme Coordinator at the Initiative for Gender Equality and Development in Africa (IGED-Africa) and a 2017 Executive Training alumnus. Marian A-Harrison is a gender and land rights advocate with a background in geography and resource development, who advocated and lobbied for the adoption of the ground-breaking Resolution on Women’s Rights to Land and Other Productive Resources at the 54th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR). In her profile, Marian discusses her legal, policy, and advocacy work on women’s economic empowerment and land rights.

Past Events

September 26, 2018: The Global Pact for the Environment: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives on the Future of International Environmental Governance
CCSI co-organized a conference to discuss progress toward the creation of a Global Pact for the Environment to strengthen and unify international environmental governance and codify a right to environment in international law. This conference brought together a group of distinguished experts to discuss the opportunity that such a pact would present from the legal, diplomatic, economic, and moral perspectives. Details, including a recap of the conversation, are available on our website. 

October 15-16, 2018: CONNEX Advisory Committee
CCSI’s Resident Senior Fellow Karl P. Sauvant co-chaired a meeting of the CONNEX Advisory Committee, held in Geneva, Switzerland. The CONNEX Support Unit is an implementing body of the CONNEX Initiative that was established by the German government in January 2017. Its objective is to provide support to developing countries and economies in transition in their negotiation of complex investment contracts, initially focusing on the extractive sector.

October 17, 2018: The Relevance of Internationally Agreed Voluntary Instruments for Contract Negotiations
While in Geneva, Karl P. Sauvant moderated a panel on “The Relevance of Internationally Agreed Voluntary Instruments for Contract Negotiations” during the Annual General Meeting of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF). During the panel, participants discussed investor-state dispute settlement processes and the incorporation of voluntary instruments into national policies. A summary may be found here.

October 18, 2018: Advancing the Investment Facilitation Agenda
Karl P. Sauvant participated in an interactive breakfast discussion organized by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) on advancing the investment facilitation agenda, held in Geneva, Switzerland. At the talk, World Trade Organization (WTO) ambassadors discussed the outcomes, challenges, and opportunities surrounding the WTO’s structured discussions on investment facilitation; Karl’s speech focused on five issues concerning these discussions. 

October 24-26, 2018: CCSI at UNCTAD’s World Investment Forum
CCSI participated in a number of events at this year’s World Investment Forum (WIF), hosted by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva. On October 24, Jesse Coleman moderated a breakout session to launch and discuss Rethinking International Investment Governance: Principles for the 21st Century. On October 26, Brooke Guven participated in a breakout session on The Right and Duty to Regulate in the Context of Mega-Infrastructure Investment, organized by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Heinrich Böll Foundation, and a WIF panel discussion on Creating More and Better Jobs Through Investment, organized in partnership with the International Labour Organization, OHCHR and the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA).

October 31, 2018: Open Stakeholder Forum at UNCITRAL Working Group III 36th Session, Vienna, Austria
On October 31, CCSI, together with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), co-hosted a stakeholder session on the UNCITRAL investor-state dispute settlement reform process in Vienna, Austria. The forum provided stakeholders space to express their views on issues related to the UNCITRAL Working Group III process to State representatives and other interested groups and individuals.

November 5-7, 2018: Judiciary Training with Strathmore University
CCSI Legal Researcher Tehtena Mebratu-Tsegaye, together with Salli Swartz, facilitated sessions on benefit sharing in the extractive industries and international legal frameworks during a training for High Court Judges in Kenya. The trainings were organized by Strathmore University.

November 7, 2018: ESG and Public Funds: Risks and Opportunities in Investment Practices
As the movement to invest according to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria gains momentum, it has raised important questions about moral and fiduciary responsibilities and the proper place for ESG concerns in investment strategies, especially as relate to public sector or mission-driven funds and endowments. This panel, co-hosted by CCSI and the Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy, sought to address some of these questions. More details are available on our website. 

November 12, 2018: Saving the World Trade Organization: How Realistic are the EU’s Proposals?
This lecture, hosted by CCSI and the Columbia Society of International Law, featured Professor Jan Wouters, founding Director of the Institute for International Law and of the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies. He critically assessed the European Commission’s proposals to “save the WTO” through (i) creation of new substantive rules; (ii) making regular committee work more efficient and improving transparency of trade policies; and (iii) reforming dispute settlement. More details are available on our website.