Durham Global Policy Institute Seminar Series 

Time: Tuesday 17 November 2026 at 17:00-18:00

Venue: CLC406 (Calman Learning Centre), Durham University 

Abstract: What is state responsibility under international law for failing to take climate action? The existing literature and state practice have primarily focused on international environmental law and human rights law to address this question. My paper explores state responsibility for climate inaction under international investment law. The existing scholarship has mainly focused on how states’ climate action, such as phasing-out policies, could harm foreign investments in the fossil fuel industries and potentially lead to violations of investment treaty obligations. However, international investment law could also support claims against climate inaction. I distinguish between two types of climate risks that affect foreign investments—physical risks and transition risks—which have opposite implications on state responsibility to protect foreign investments. I argue that a host state’s climate inaction that causes damages to foreign investments can violate investment treaty obligations. The paper proposes investment tribunals adopt a balanced interpretation of investment treaties when determining state responsibility for climate inaction. This requires a contextual analysis that takes into account (1) the foreign investor’s due diligence in mitigating and adapting to physical climate damages; (2) the host state ’s resources and capacity to adopt climate action; and (3) whether force majeure can be a justifiable ground for failing to prevent damages caused by unforeseeable climate effects.

Speaker: Ying Zhu is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean (International Affairs) at the Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong, and Deputy Director of the Asian Institute of International Financial Law (AIIFL). Her academic interests include international investment law, international trade law, and environmental law. She has published articles in Harvard International Law Journal, New York University Journal of International Law and Politics, Ecology Law Quarterly, and Review of European Comparative & International Environmental Law. She has served as a member of the Chinese delegation to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group III. Ying holds LL.M. and J.S.D. degrees from Yale Law School, and a LL.B. degree from China University of Political Science and Law. 

Chair: Yanwen Zhang, Assistant Professor in Public International Law at Durham Law School and Deputy Director of Durham Global Policy Institute

Find out more about Prof Ying Zhu’s research here

Find out more about Durham Global Policy Institute here