On 1 April 2019, the Energy Charter Secretariat (ECS) held a side-event on the prevention of investment disputes during the Spring meeting of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Working Group III (UNCITRAL WG III) in New York, New York.
The event was organised with the support of UNCITRAL, the World Bank (WB), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). It generated an interactive discussion among representatives of different international organisations, government officials and non-governmental organisations. The discussion aimed at identifying synergies among different International Organisations working on the prevention of investment disputes, as well as gaps that government officials consider still need to be addressed.
In 2018, the Energy Charter Secretariat, in cooperation with governmental officials and international institutions (WB, International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, International Mediation Institute), worked on practical issues to facilitate a framework for managing investment disputes. This work resulted in the Model Instrument on Management of Investment Disputes.
In 2019, the Secretariat has been focusing on tools for prevention of investment disputes in order to complement this Model Instrument.