Randel Young, Executive Director, Tulane Energy Law & Policy Center and Distinguished Research Fellow, Tulane Law School
Frederic Sourgens, Faculty Director, Tulane Energy Law & Policy Center and James McCulloch Chair in Energy Law, Tulane Law School
In this second post in our New Visions Series, Senior Fellows Chloe Baldwin (Partner, International Disputes & Public International Law, Steptoe LLP, Washington D.C.) and Mark Appel (International Conflict Management Consultant, Mediator and Arbitrator, ArbDB Chambers, London, and formerly, Senior Vice President at the American Arbitration Association [AAA] and the International Centre for Dispute Resolution [ICDR]) provide this strategic overview of the mission and scope of work to be done within the new Dispute Prevention and Mitigation Group at Tulane Energy Law & Policy Center.
You will be hearing much more about the exciting work being undertaken by this new group at the Center, and about Chloe and Mark and the leadership team they are organizing to address the challenges and opportunities that exist within this critical intersection between global energy projects and global energy disputes, particularly in the emerging markets investor-state arena, but we thought we would give you a taste of things to come….
Investor-State Dispute Prevention: A Vision
Mark Appel, International Conflict Management Consultant, Mediator and Arbitrator, ArbDB Chambers, London, and formerly, Senior Vice President at the American Arbitration Association [AAA] and the International Centre for Dispute Resolution [ICDR]
Chloe Baldwin, Partner, International Disputes & Public International Law, Steptoe LLP, Washington D.C
“And where two raging fires meet together, they do consume the thing that feeds their fury”—William Shakespeare
Our Belief and the Objective
The core tenet of the Tulane Energy Law & Policy Center (“Center”) Dispute Prevention and Mitigation (“DPM”) Group is that costly and prolonged energy disputes between States, investors, and stakeholder communities are not inevitable. The goal of the DPM group is to become a “go-to” source for research, innovative thought leadership and best practices, developed in close collaboration with a wide variety of key stakeholders across the globe, whose engagement is essential to shaping effective and durable energy policy.
Why?
Because the best disputes are the ones that never happen. Yes, conflict is inevitable – especially in the world of mega-project energy policy, where the divergent needs of States, investors, and stakeholder communities collide daily. What is not inevitable are projects that grind to a halt or are abandoned altogether, outcomes that can bring devastating consequences for energy security, national GDP, labor markets, community and environmental integrity, and State/investor confidence. Proactive and sustained attention to DPM throughout the development and negotiation process is an investment that pays for itself, particularly when compared with the enormous costs of protracted litigation, arbitration, and drawn-out enforcement battles
Recent progress has been made in the way certain States are addressing energy policy development, community and investor relations, and conflict management. Emerging domestic and international legal and regulatory frameworks are now beginning to address critical modern challenges. Keeping pace with the rapid and complex changes in the global regulatory and legal environment is no small task, and treaty obligations and multilateral policy commitments have produced a fast-growing set of responsibilities for both States and investors.
But help is on the way!
The DPM Group’s mission is to identify, document, and share best practices. The Group will also assess alternative means and processes to equip investors, State-owned and State-controlled entities, and governments with practical tools and strategies to predict, mitigate, and prevent disputes.
The People
The energy industry stakeholders’ interest in this mission and the development of a dedicated team flow from the goals of the DPM program itself.
The envisaged audience for the DPM program will include governmental policy makers (e.g., State, regional, international, and supranational organizations), corporate and other investing stakeholders, energy project and conventional financial institutions (both public and private), legal practitioners, arbitration and disputes experts and professionals, and educators.
Recognizing the need for specialist ability and targeted geographic coverage, we intend to engage with, and seek advice from, a multidisciplinary team of government representatives, practitioners, policy makers, and industry leaders around the world. We also consider it important to take advantage of our affiliation with Tulane, a world class university deeply committed to cross-disciplinary energy education at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels, to engage with a variety of faculty and students in energy curricula across campus, and to bring practical experience to bear from the disputes world in continued development of tomorrow’s energy leaders.
The Tools
The program will map key conflict inflection points and explore how early intervention can protect both public interest and investor confidence, to allow for amicable resolution of disputes on commercial terms without jeopardizing critical projects and long-term policy goals. For purposes of planning, we see four distinct categories of work to be progressed by the DPM Group to achieve these goals.
- Research and Thought Leadership: creating and managing an online blog, and producing, asking for, and publishing white papers, policies for best practices, dispute prevention and mitigation models, and the like.
- Policy Engagement and Institutional Development: mapping key conflict inflection points as a resource for States and investors; spotlighting and providing guidance on existing policy tools; conducting impact evaluations of past disputes to extract policy lessons and propose solutions.
- Capacity Building and Collaboration: hosting institutes, seminars, workshops, and training sessions (in person and remotely on the Center’s YouTube channel and other online media facilities); presenting jointly with key stakeholders; and sponsoring networking and discussion events.
- Developing Cross-Disciplinary Academic Programming: partnering with the Center, Tulane University Law School, and Tulane’s undergraduate and graduate programs (including J.D., joint J.D./MBA candidates, and other master’s, doctoral and executive education programs) to design and deliver multidisciplinary academic initiatives, including the creation of innovative teaching models to highlight best practices and cutting-edge techniques in DPM.
Some Critical Next Steps
To progress the DPM Group’s strategy, our priorities for the rest of 2025 will include the following:
- Settling on the proposed scope of subject matter in consultation with the Center, including both our regional and industry-segment focus.
- Finalize the DPM Group’s strategy and project timeline.
- Identify and organize a world-class team of DPM leaders, experienced analysts, and strategic alliance partners for collaboration on specific projects and initiatives.
We are truly excited about the prospects and opportunities of working within the Center to build-out our core competencies in DPM and in working closely and collaboratively with other key segments at Tulane in integrating our work in DPM with the exciting work already progressing across campus among multiple academic disciplines in the development of energy education and energy academic programming.
This paper represents the research and views of the author(s). It should not be construed as legal or investment advice. It does not necessarily represent the views of the Tulane Energy Law & Policy Center, Steptoe LLP, or ArbDB Chambers. The piece may be subject to further revision.
