Participation as an Obligation? Rethinking Investment Practices Through the Right to Development

Abstract

This article explores how the Right to Development can serve as a normative and procedural framework for reorienting International Investment Law (IIL) toward greater human rights compliance. Focusing on the foundational principle of the Right to Development, i. e. public participation, it proposes a Right to Development-based impact assessment model aimed at reshaping investment practices to better reflect the interests and agency of affected communities. Drawing on legal instruments from international environmental law, particularly the Aarhus Convention and the Escazú Agreement, the article highlights how existing procedural guarantees can inform and strengthen participatory obligations in the investment context. The proposed framework elevates non-binding concepts such as the Social License to Operate into enforceable obligations grounded in international law. The framework is particularly relevant in high-risk, resource-intensive sectors, where the lack of community participation has exacerbated rights violations.