Stabilization clauses are provisions in investment contracts that accomodate the risk of regulatory changes for investors. Given their nature of safeguarding individual interests of investors, stabilization clauses may cause tensions with interfering states' regulation in the public interest, including to protect human rights or more generally to work towards sustainable development. The debate on stabilization clauses closely relates to the more general call for coherence between investors' rights and legitimate public interest in international investment law. There is increasing public criticism regarding the one-sideness of investment law, protecting investors' rights without at the same time anchoring investors' responsibilities for human rights and sustainable development.
