Environmental Protection and BITs of Bangladesh, Malaysia and USA: A Comparison

Abstract

In absence of any global treaty, the bilateral investment treaties (BITs) are playing an important role in regulating foreign investments in the host countries. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, there are 2361 BITs in force and like other members of the World Trade Organization, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and the USA also signed BITs to facilitate trade. The primary purpose of economic globalization is the economic development of the developing and least-developed countries as well as to facilitate the benefits of the home states. Bangladesh and Malaysia foreign investment laws have no specific provision of protecting the environment and fails to maintain high standard like USA environment laws. This paper addresses two questions: (a) do the bilateral investment treaties of Bangladesh, Malaysia, and USA have any specific provisions to protect the environment in the host country? (b) should environmental protection be considered during the entry of foreign investments in Bangladesh, Malaysia, and USA? Using the doctrinal research method, we critically analyzed 40 BITs signed by Bangladesh, Malaysia, and USA with different countries to explore whether there is any specific reference to protecting the environment. We find that the existing BITs mainly have provisions to promote and protect foreign investments, and 7 out of 40 BITs have a specific reference to protecting the environment. Therefore, governments should consider this important factor to insert while signing any future BITs.