Global Corporations and Sustainability

This timely book examines how international legal regimes interact to govern corporate sustainability and how this interaction may enable harmful corporate conduct. With a focus on human rights abuse and the impacts of climate change, contributors from diverse legal backgrounds critically analyse the role of the law in shaping corporate behaviour.

Leading experts investigate three key areas: corporate law, international investment law, and public international law. They identify how each of these fields individually and collectively contribute to enabling sustainability harms, outlining how the convergence of these three areas creates a structural framework that permits and legitimizes corporate misconduct. Presenting both a diagnosis and pathways for reform, this book advocates for corporate accountability and urges a rethinking of law’s role in shaping a just and sustainable global economy.

Scholars and students in the fields of human rights, corporate law and public international law will benefit from this book’s insights. Providing actionable proposals for rethinking and reforming business models, this book is also a crucial reference for policymakers, legal practitioners, ESG professionals, and management consultants.