In every part of this draft guide, I can see the intention of drafting organisations to contribute to sustainable and responsible investment in agricultural land and to achieve goals set in SDGs, in particular those in relation to agriculture and food. The guide mentioned CSR, responsible business conduct, and also mentioned negative risks (e.g. human rights, social and environmental impacts) that may occur if investment is not sustainable. However, the guiding instruments as the basis for this guide mainly focuses on human rights, while other relevant instruments in relation to social and environmental elements can seldom be seen in this guide. And in page 14-Intro 5, the guide mentions the consistence with the UN Guiding Principles, the VGGT, the CFS-RAI Principles and other international instruments. What does the ‘other international instruments’ refer to? For Chapter 6 – Grievance Mechanisms and Dispute Resolution, grievance mechanisms can also be regarded as a kind of dispute resolution mechanism and it might be a judicial one or non-judicial one. The classification of dispute resolution mechanisms and the order or title of this part can be reconsidered. The guide mentions Mediation in Chapter 6, however, it would be helpful if the guide can mentions the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation-Singapore Mediation Convention in the part of ‘Enforcement of Settlements or Decisions Resolving A Dispute’.
Dr. Wei Yin