A Path Toward Sustainable Development Along the Belt and Road

Abstract

The article scrutinizes the purported synergies between the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by evaluating the transnational legal order regulating environmental and social impacts of BRI economic activities. From the perspective of international law and sustainable development, three problematic features are identified. First, the bilateral character of agreements between China and BRI-participating States produces fragmented and variable sustainability standards. Second, the informality of State-to-State arrangements often hinder parliamentary and public deliberation in host States. Lastly, BRI decision-making processes restrict non-State actor participation and thereby disregard the very communities harmed by infrastructure projects. To clear its path to sustainability and bring it closer to the UN agenda, BRI’s legal and regulatory framework must become multilateral, transparent, and inclusive. The proposal entails bringing to fore the relevant background international legal norms, especially on environmental, labor, and human rights protection, and consolidating them in a framework agreement that sets minimum sustainability safeguards for transboundary economic activities like foreign-funded infrastructure projects. Reforms are imperative because the subject matter of the Initiative requires international cooperation and involves not only the economic, environmental, and social concerns of two States but also implicates the goals and interests of the international community.

The Impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on Corporate Excessive Debt Mechanism: Evidence from Difference-in-Difference Equation Model

“…2019) [3]. In general, the BRI is a path of sustainable development (Lorenzo 2021) [15], which is conducive to expanding investment and trade cooperation between China and countries along the route, realizing investment and trade facilitation, and improving China's welfare and trade conditions. In turn, the production and operation environment and competitive environment of enterprises have changed, and the government's requirements for enterprises have been adjusted accordingly, and the implementation of the BRI has also affected all aspects of enterprises.…”

Green Finance as an Institutional Mechanism to Direct the Belt and Road Initiative towards Sustainability: The Case of China

“…However, the environmental laws and regulations of less-developed host states may be unestablished or set lower standards than China's [23,24,36], and these countries may be incentivized to reduce environmental standards in order to attract more FDIs, creating…”

“…However, the environmental laws and regulations of less-developed host states may be unestablished or set lower standards than China's [23,24,36], and these countries may be incentivized to reduce environmental standards in order to attract more FDIs, creating a 'pollution haven' for foreign investors [36]. As a majority of BRI countries are low-income countries that may 'race to the bottom' to attract Chinese FDI, Coenen et al suggested that Chinese enterprises may engage in 'jurisdiction shopping' in order to relocate polluting manufactories in a host state where environmental laws are either relaxed or not strictly enforced [37].…”

“…Rarely, however, has attention been paid to the narrative of legal/regulatory contexts related to green financing from Chinese banks. Although legal studies have investigated the BRI's sustainability challenges and suggested possible solutions in terms of environmental law [23] or international law [11,24], examined BRI-related green finance and argued that soft-law could be used [25], comparatively reviewed green finance practices in foreign countries [26], and introduced international green bond standards for China to consult [27], rarely have they provided a comprehensive textual analysis of China's regulatory instruments on green finance or whether these rules have any weaknesses in terms of achieving a greener BRI.…”

The Impact of the “Belt and Road” Initiative on Accounting Conservatism of Energy‐Intensive Enterprises under the Low‐Carbon Background

“…As an important industrial policy in the context of economic transformation and low-carbon green development, China's BRI is a significant regulatory tool, which is used for both allocations of scarce resources as well as achievement of strategic goals [ 26 , 27 ]. Ball et al argued that the national system can also have a decisive influence on the choice of corporate accounting policies [ 11 ].…”